LIHU‘E — Judge Kathleen Watanabe partially denied a request from Kyle Akau’s attorney to release records related to an armed robbery in August, in which Akau is a defendant. Such records may contain names, addresses and telephone numbers of witnesses
LIHU‘E — Judge Kathleen Watanabe partially denied a request from Kyle Akau’s attorney to release records related to an armed robbery in August, in which Akau is a defendant. Such records may contain names, addresses and telephone numbers of witnesses in the case.
Akau will still get the records with witnesses’ names, but without contact information and further investigation proceedings.
“What we have here is an alleged robbery that happened in broad daylight,” said county prosecutor Sam Jajich, adding that it was “shocking” that Aureo Moore, 34, was allegedly killed by one of Akau’s associates four months after the robbery.
Vicente Hilario, 24, is scheduled to go to trial April 25 for the murder of Moore.
Akau, 25, is being charged with robbing Moore at gun point on Aug. 22 at the Safeway parking lot in Waipouli. Akau allegedly fired a shot and robbed Moore of $900 in cash, over 150 pills of oxycodone and 50 pills of morphine.
Moore’s father said his son had just cashed an insurance refund check and filled a monthly prescription at nearby Longs Drugs. Moore had fallen off a roof in 1996, and was taking the controlled substances to deal with severe back pain, according to his father.
Akau was arrested along with Hilario and Akoni Davis, 21. The robbery charges against Hilario and Davis were later dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be brought up at a later time. Moore’s father said Davis and Hilario were in a get-away car that helped Akau flee the scene.
Moore was murdered on Dec. 17, a few days before he was scheduled to testify a second time against Akau. He was shot five times from behind at close range, in the middle of a road about 300 yards from Anahola Beach Park.
Moore’s father said his son had been threatened before and was fearing for his life. Moore had even considered not showing up in court to testify, his father said.
Defense Attorney Craig De Costa said there was no connection that he knew of between Hilario’s charges and Akau’s case.
“I find it outrageous that Mr. Akau is being treated differently simply because Mr. Moore has passed away,” he said.
De Costa said Akau was not asking for anything special, only for what a non-incarcerated person would have access to.
“A criminal defendant should know who his witnesses are,” said De Costa, adding that Akau would be able spot inconsistencies if he had access to the records.
Jajich responded to De Costa’s request with a motion for a protective order to prohibit Akau from obtaining the records.
If every criminal is able to obtain the police records, Jajich said, “what kind of world we are going to create?”
Akau will have the right to confront the witnesses who are going to testify against him when he goes to trial, Jajich said.
When Akau was arrested, a day or two after the robbery, he was given a Judicial Determination of Probable Cause document, in which he reportedly scribbled some notes.
Akau has been incarcerated at Kaua‘i Correctional Community Center, and has handled the JDPC back to De Costa, who apparently gathered additional information on the case.
De Costa is allowed to share most of the information with Akau, but he said they can only meet during mornings and afternoons, when De Costa is usually in court.
If Akau was not incarcerated, he would be able to ask a court worker for the records, just like anybody else, according to De Costa.
It’s the state’s duty to redact information in the records before making them public, De Costa said. If the information is available to the press and to the general public, then Akau should have access to it too, he said.
But De Costa was apparently willing to compromise.
“As I recall, there has been some blacking-out of dates of births, addresses and phone numbers,” De Costa said. “If not, I will do that.”
Watanabe told De Costa that the state was “partly granting, partly denying” the release of the information in the JDPC.
The JDPC will contain the names of the witnesses, but will black out their contact information. Watanabe also denied the sharing of police reports.
Besides being charged with first-degree robbery, Akau faces charges of second-degree reckless endangering, third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, plus four counts of firearms violations.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
