Prosecutors start over in rape case

LIHUE — New charges have been filed against a Kauai Community Correctional Center inmate whose case was thrown out last month after a judge ruled that prosecutors violated court procedure while obtaining a grand jury indictment.

Stephen Makanani, 33, was arraigned Monday on one count of first-degree sexual assault for an incident that allegedly took place last August, when he was out of jail on a work release program. Makanani admitted to having sex with the woman but has maintained the affair was entirely consensual.

A Fifth Circuit Judge found in May, that statements Makanani made to a correctional officer were inadmissible in court because he was questioned without being appropriately informed of his right to remain silent. Because the grand jury’s decision was based, in part, on those statements, the indictment was found to be invalid, and the entire case was dismissed.

Prosecutors were apparently undeterred by the judge’s decision and obtained a second grand jury indictment last week.

In an email following the dismissal of Makanani’s case, Kauai County Prosecutor Justin Kollar called the ruling, “a bump in the road,” saying it was “nothing we haven’t seen before.”

The allegations and charges against Makanani are essentially the same as before. He now faces only a single count of first-degree sexual assault, instead of two, but the penalty is no less severe. On Friday, prosecutors notified the court of their intention to seek an extended prison sentence, meaning that, if convicted, Makanani could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Makanani’s attorney, Craig De Costa, said his client was interviewed by police about the alleged rape as part of an investigation to determine whether he had violated the conditions of his work release program.

Because he was questioned in regards to employment, rather than as part of a criminal investigation, De Costa said his client was compelled to answer, meaning that when those statements were later submitted as evidence to the grand jury, prosecutors violated Makanani’s right to a fair trial.

In a motion to dismiss the indictment, De Costa successfully argued that prosecutors presented “compelled and inadmissible statements” during grand jury proceedings and that prosecutors elicited those statements “solely to label” Makanani “a liar” without adding proper context or asking the state Department of Public Safety officer, who testified before the grand jury, to go into his findings, effectively preventing the jurors from reaching a fair and impartial decision.

An article in the May 8 edition of The Garden Island incorrectly stated that the DPS officer who questioned Makanani was a detective with the Kauai Police Department.

Makanani is currently serving a five-year prison sentence, after being convicted of motor vehicle theft in November 2017. The state had requested a 20-year sentence in that case because the car theft was committed just months after Makanani finished serving a previous five-year term for unrelated crimes.

In August 2018, after less than a year in prison, Makanani was allowed in a work furlough program, offered by the Hawaii Department of Public Safety as “an authorized, unescorted, temporary leave of absence from the institution,” intended to provide convicts with opportunities to socialize and prepare for reintegration to society prior to parole.

Makanani’s participation in the program came despite what the prosecuting attorney’s office described as “the state’s strong objection,” due to Makanani’s relatively extensive criminal history.