Evidence out in murder case

LIHUE — Some of the statements an Omao man made to police on the day he was arrested in connection with the death of his elderly landlord will not be admissible as evidence in his upcoming trial.

Peter Grewer, 63, is charged with second-degree murder for the 2018 death of Joellen Hartman, a retired teacher found beaten and stabbed to death inside her home on Pune‘e Road in Omao. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. His trial is scheduled to begin in February.

Fifth Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano on Tuesday ruled that the initial conversation between Grewer and the Kauai police officer who questioned him shortly after Hartman’s body was discovered can be used as evidence. But several subsequent interrogations were deemed unconstitutional by Valenciano, meaning they cannot be used against Grewer in court.

According to court documents, police went to the property to conduct a “wellness check” on the afternoon of June 19, 2018. They spoke briefly with Grewer outside the house he was renting near the main residence and allowed him to go back inside.

After attempting to check on Hartman, 67, and getting no response, the officers forcibly entered the home and found her body. Officer Bonachita arrived on the scene about 10 minutes later, and returned to the side home to talk to Grewer.

Prosecutors say Bonachita approached Grewer in an attempt to establish a timeline of events and get names of other potential witnesses. Grewer’s attorney maintains the questions began as investigatory “but quickly became sustained and coercive,” but prosecutors say more intensive questioning began only after Bonachita noted inconsistencies in Grewer’s story.

Toward the end of the conversation, right after he saw Grewer’s dog pooping on a neighbor’s yard, Bonachita noticed the scratch marks on Grewer’s chest, according to a deputy prosecuting attorney’s memorandum. Grewer explained he got the scratches climbing underneath a fence at Walmart, and his attorney obtained a copy of the store’s surveillance video on the afternoon of June 13, six days before the alleged murder.

Valenciano determined that much of what Grewer told police cannot be used in court because the officers didn’t read him his rights until after they interrogated again back at the station, while ignoring Grewer’s repeated requests for an attorney.

The key question now is, as Valenciano put it during Tuesday’s hearing, “what is left to support the search warrant?”

At least some of the evidence police used to convince a judge they had probable cause to search Grewer’s house came from the statements he made before being informed of his Miranda rights. Because those statements are now inadmissible as evidence, they have to be redacted from the warrant.

If the remaining evidence is not enough to establish probable cause, it means prosecutors aren’t allowed to show jurors anything police found when they searched Grewer’s home after his arrest.

A list of proposed exhibits prosecutors submitted earlier this year includes photographs of bloody shorts from Grewer’s residence.