80 days in jail after 9th violation

LIHUE — 10 strikes and you’re out.

That’s what a Fifth Circuit Court judge told a man Tuesday when he came in for his ninth HOPE violation after testing positive for methamphetamine use.

Pono Lanning Jr., 30, was brought in from Kauai Community Correctional Center to appear before Judge Kathleen Watanabe.

He had been in custody since he admitted to using meth and a probation officer tested him on Feb. 9. The state then filed a motion to revoke or modify the terms of his probation.

Deputy public defender Stephanie Sato said her client had not a had “dirty test” since Oct. 3 and asked that the court sanction him for 45 days.

“He has taken responsibility,” Sato said. “This is the longest period he has gone. This is commendable. We’re mindful of the fact that he did rack up a number of violations.”

The state argued that it wasn’t asking for a revocation at this time, but that Lanning only had 81 days left of credit before it would.

Sato also asked the court give her client an opportunity to get into an intensive out-patient treatment program.

After hearing from the state and the public defender’s office, the court found him guilty of non-compliance and ruled to modify Lanning’s probation for the ninth time. He was sentenced to 80 days in jail.

“Keep in mind, Mr. Lanning, you run out of time after this,” Watanabe said. “You commit another violation, you come before the court, at best you look at the court revoking you and starting probation all over again or you’re looking at the open term, which is five years in prison.”

This isn’t the first time Lanning has had a HOPE violation. He’s had eight others.

Less than three weeks ago, on Jan. 27, Lanning appeared before Watanabe for a violation after missing a scheduled HOPE group cognitive session.

The court found him guilty of non-compliance when he admitted to reporting for his test, which tested negative, but then failing to report to the group session. It was the fifth violation for either being late or failing to report for a group session.

Deputy public defender Samuel Jajich argued that based on the gravity of the violation and the fact that Lanning admitted to the violation, Lanning should be sanctioned for three days. The state agreed.

“You were just here a week ago,” Watanabe said to Lanning on Jan. 27. “And you remember that. That was for the same thing. Why is it that a week later, it’s for the same thing?”

Lanning said he never wrote down any of the dates that he had to appear for group sessions, but that he would start doing so.

He asked the court how many more violations he could get before he would be sentenced to the open term of five years in jail.

The court sanctioned Lanning to five days in jail after Watanabe said she “was quite surprised he would make a statement” about not writing his appointments down and she didn’t believe that there is a “cognitive problem or nothing to indicate” that he did not understand when his group sessions were.

Seven days earlier, on Jan. 20, Lanning was sanctioned to 30 days of community service after missing a group session. In December, he was sanctioned to 16 hours of community service.

In October, his drug test came back positive and he was sanctioned to 30 days in jail.

In August, Lanning was sanctioned to eight hours of community service and on July 23, 2015, Lanning spent 14 days in jail. Just 10 days prior, he was sanctioned to seven days in jail.

His first court appearance for a violation was on April 6, 2015.

Lanning was originally charged with promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree, and drug paraphernalia on Nov. 14, 2013. Both are class C felonies.

He pleaded no contest to the first charge and was sentenced to four years of HOPE probation. The state dismissed the second charge.

As part of plea agreement, the state also dismissed at least one other case with the same charges, both class C felonies. A second case with charges for family abuse was dismissed without prejudice.