Kouchi: No special session over Obrero

LIHU‘E — State Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi, a Democrat who represents Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, reported Friday there will be no special legislative session to address issues raised by the Hawai‘i Supreme Court in the Obrero case.

“The Senate has been working diligently to address the concerns of county prosecutors regarding the potential impacts raised by the Hawai‘i Supreme Court’s opinion in State v. Obrero,” said Kouchi in a statement.

“While we’ve attempted to work with the House, the Judiciary and the county prosecutors to find a way forward, we’ve received no indication from the House, following their caucus yesterday, that their chamber has the 2/3rds majority needed to convene a special session. Furthermore, with the governor’s recent statement on Wednesday saying that he will not call the Legislature back to address this issue, it does not seem that a special legislative session will occur at this time.”

In Obrero, the Supreme Court ruled an O‘ahu man charged with shooting a 16-year-old boy in a disputed interaction was “unlawful” because he was charged by criminal complaint rather than a grand jury.

This could lead to other felony cases charged by criminal complaint being dismissed statewide, including multiple cases on Kaua‘i.

Following the ruling, Kaua‘i Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Like reported her office would be charging all new cases either through grand jury or another method called information, and said they were taking action to increase grand -jury availability through the end of the year.

Both Like and state Public Defender Kenji Akamu said the effect of Obrero on Kaua‘i would be more limited than other islands, where charging cases by criminal complaint is more common.

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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.