LIHU‘E — After making its way through the courts for more than a decade, the second trial of Vicente Hilario is finally underway.
Hilario faces charges of murder in the first degree, retaliating against a witness, intimidating a witness and bribery of a witness, for the 2010 killing of Aureo Moore, who was set to testify against him in a separate robbery case.
He was convicted on all counts and sentenced to life in prison in 2013, but the case was remanded for a new trial on appeal four years later.
In an effort to expedite the trial, he began serving as his own lawyer late last year.
On Monday, the jury selection process was completed, and both sides delivered their opening statements.
The prosecution, led by County of Kaua‘i Deputy Prosecutors Matthew Arakawa and Todd Dickerson, opened up their case Tuesday by calling a series of law enforcement officers to the stand.
First to testify was retired Kaua‘i Police Department detective James Kurasaki, who observed Moore’s body and apprehended Hilario shortly thereafter. Kurasaki arrived at the crime scene near Anahola Beach Park on the morning of Dec. 17, 2010.
“There was a Caucasian male laying face down,” said Kurasaki. “I observed spent bullet casings … and what appeared to be gunshot wounds in his back. There was blood that was pooling around his head.”
He then accompanied other officers to Hilario’s residence on Anahola Road, located a short distance from the crime scene. Though it wasn’t explicitly stated, KPD likely viewed Hilario as a suspect because they knew Moore intended to testify against him. After speaking to another resident and waiting for several minutes, he saw Hilario arrive at the scene.
Officers detained Hilario in the back of a patrol car, where he was transported to the crime scene. Police then placed bags over Hilario’s hands and handcuffed him.
In his cross-examination of Kurasaki, Hilario asked a series of questions related to the cleanliness of the police vehicle. This was presumably to provide an explanation for the presence of gunshot residue on his hands, a key piece of evidence used against him in the previous trial. Kurasaki said the inside of the vehicle was examined frequently, but that this was more of a “visual check” than a deep cleaning. “And there’s a lot of traffic in the back of the police car, people coming and going?” Hilario asked.
“Correct,” Kurasaki said. Kurasaki also agreed it was typical for a police officer to be carrying their firearm when they detain a suspect in the back of the car.
Prosecutors also played the original trial testimony of KPD detective Vicki Fonoimoana, who covered similar ground as Kurasaki.
Fonoimoana was waiting with other officers outside of Hilario’s residence in the early afternoon on Dec. 17, 2010, when she saw the suspect emerge from a break in the hedges.
“His feet had red scratches on them. They were clean on the top, but I noticed that the toenails were really dirty,” Fonoimoana said.
Former KPD Sgt. Damian Loo testified about his apprehension of Hilario for the stick-up robbery of Moore that took place in the parking lot of the Kaua‘i Village Shopping Center in Waipouli earlier in 2010. Hilario faces separate charges for the robbery, which prosecutors believe provides Hilario’s motive for the murder case.
On Aug. 24, 2010, Loo recognized Hilario’s car from a police announcement and began to follow him. The car slowed and a man jumped out carrying a black bag, Loo said.
Loo approached the vehicle and found Hilario in the driver’s seat. He was arrested for robbery, and Loo found a large wad of cash on him — estimated at more than $1,000.
Hilario’s trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday.
