Kekaha man removed from Drug Court

LIHU‘E — Missed court dates and news crimes forced the Fifth Circuit Court Judge Randal Valenciano to remove a Kekaha man from Drug Court.

Anthony Keohu Harris, 39, of Kekaha, will be sentenced on Feb. 23, 2012 for drug and trespassing crimes committed in 2009. The sentencing comes after Harris was removed from Drug Court on Nov. 3.

Samuel Jajich presented arguments against Harris, noting a Sept. 14 arrest for missing court dates and a pending case for family abuse and second-degree assault. The state filed a motion to terminate him from the Drug Court on Sept. 22.

Deputy Public Defender Christian Enright represented Harris.

During the Monday stipulated facts trial, Judge Valenciano found Harris guilty of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, and for second-degree criminal trespassing.

Valenciano found Harris not guilty on two drug paraphernalia charges. The language concerning the items in the two charges did not match the other legal documents, he said.

Although these issues could be stipulated in a pre-trial conference, Valenciano said there is not an opportunity to make such clarifications in a stipulated facts trial. After expressing concerns about double-jeopardy he declared Harris not guilty on the two charges.

Harris was admitted to Drug Court on June 3, 2009, after being indicted on second-degree criminal trespassing, second-degree methamphetamine trafficking, and two counts of drug paraphernalia on Nov. 28, 2008.

Harris was arrested again for second-degree criminal trespassing and two counts of criminal contempt of court on Oct. 10, 2008.

He was serving a jail sentence for two crimes at the time.

Court proceedings were put on hold until the outcome of his Drug Court performance. He was released from custody on July 6, 2009 to an in-resident drug treatment program.

A defendant who completes the Drug Court successfully will have the incentive of a deferred sentence and the possibility of a clean record.