A trial has been delayed for four Honolulu police officers accused of causing a car chase, crash and covering it up in September 2021.
It was postponed until an appeals court can rule on a claim by defense attorneys that the law the case hangs on is too vague.
Officers Joshua J.S. Nahulu, 37, Erik X.K. Smith, 25, and Jake R.T. Bartolome, 35, are free on bail after they were arrested nearly two years following the Sept. 12, 2021, incident that left a teenager partially paralyzed and a career criminal with a traumatic brain injury.
A fourth officer, Robert G. Lewis III, whose age was not released by the department, also faces criminal charges in connection with the crash and cover-up.
Nahulu, Smith and Bartolome were terminated but filed grievances against the department. The grievance process is being held in abeyance until the criminal cases are adjudicated.
Nahulu is charged with collisions involving death or serious bodily injury for allegedly causing the crash near the corner of Farrington Highway and Orange Street that paralyzed Dayton Gouveia and left Jonaven Perkins-Sinapati, driver of the white 2000 four-door Honda Civic that crashed, with a traumatic brain injury.
Nahulu faces a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Smith, Bartolome and Lewis are charged with hindering prosecution in the first degree, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. They were also charged with conspiracy to commit hindering prosecution in the first degree, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
All four entered not-guilty pleas March 23, 2023. Smith, Bartolome and Lewis were released after posting $5,000 bail, and Nahulu is free on $10,000 bail. They were scheduled to stand trial on the charges Oct. 7.
Nahulu’s attorney, Rick Sing, filed two motions to dismiss the charge against his client, both of which were denied by the court, prompting Sing to file an interlocutory appeal, a move that if successful would nullify the case against the officers.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Scott K. Bell is handling the case for the state.
“As this is an open case, we cannot provide any comment at this time,” Christine M. Denton, special counsel to Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Sing declined comment.
Hawaii Revised Statue 641-17 allows for an appeal in a criminal matter by a defendant to the Intermediate Court of Appeals from a decision “denying a motion to dismiss or from other interlocutory orders, decisions, or judgments, whenever the judge in the judge’s discretion may think the same advisable for a more speedy termination of the case.”
Sing is challenging the charges against Nahulu, asserting that the statue says you have to stop and render aid if you are involved in a collision.
Smith, Bartolome and Lewis joined the appeal.
According to state court records, the officers are claiming the statute itself is unconstitutionally vague because it doesn’t define what being involved in a collision is.
Three witnesses allege that one of the three police vehicles chasing the white Honda collided with it before the crash, but each witness points to a different vehicle.
But expert witnesses, including one retained by the prosecution, found no evidence of a collision. The officers argue that there is not adequate notice of what requires them to render aid.
The prosecution asserts they had to stop, but the officers argue if there was no collision, how were they supposed to to know that they had to stop and render aid?
The officers are also challenging a charging document, alleging it does not clearly define what it means to be involved in a collision and does not put them on notice about what, exactly, they have to defend against.
Defense attorneys argue that it is not a reasonably understandable term.
Briefs from the prosecution and defense are due to the ICA by Nov. 14, with the case expected to be considered in early 2025. Whatever the ICA decides, either side is free to appeal the ICA’s decision to the Hawaii Supreme Court.
The Sept. 12, 2021, incident has cost taxpayers at least $24 million in settlements and is one of the costliest civil matters in Honolulu history.
Perkins-Sinapati, driver of the white Honda, got $12.5 million, and city attorneys agreed to pay $7 million to Gouveia, a teenager who was partially paralyzed in the crash.
Four other passengers who sustained injuries in the early morning crash recently settled with the city for $4.5 million. Those passengers were 17, 18, 20 and 21 years old at the time of the crash.
