LIHUE — A 5th Circuit judge will decide if personal records of a defendant will remain sealed in a case involving a Kilauea man accused of the attempted second-degree murder of a visitor in the Kalalau Valley. The defendant, Justin
LIHUE — A 5th Circuit judge will decide if personal records of a defendant will remain sealed in a case involving a Kilauea man accused of the attempted second-degree murder of a visitor in the Kalalau Valley.
The defendant, Justin Wynn Klein, 37, was present with State Public Defender Stephanie Sato, who presented the motion for a protective order of sensitive personal information that will be placed into his court file.
Klein is undergoing a fitness for trial examination. Other medical and court records would be arriving as requested from outside the jurisdiction by parties in the case.
County First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Takata said there were issues of vagueness in the motion but did not object.
Judge Kathleen Watanabe granted the defense motion, in part, ordering the records would be sealed with no opposition from the state. However, she said the court would suspend judgment on certain files until review.
The next hearing will be June 19, when the reports of his fitness for trial examination are due. The Aug. 5 trial date is off the calendar pending the outcome of the defendant’s fitness for trial motion.
Klein pleaded not guilty to allegedly throwing a 31-year-old Japanese woman off a cliff in the Kalalau Valley on Dec. 16, 2012. An indictment was issued by a 5th Circuit grand jury on Dec. 27, while Klein was still a fugitive until he surrendered to police on April 6 at Lydgate Beach Park.
The victim, Azusa “Shita” Ino, from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, survived and was in critical condition at Wilcox Memorial Hospital before recovering and returning to Japan with family.
Klein is being held on $1 million bail at Kauai Community Correctional Center.
