LIHU‘E — After a weeklong hiatus, the Vicente Hilario murder trial resumed Monday with the defendant cross-examining a key witness.
David Manaku testified earlier this month that he witnessed Hilario shoot Aureo Moore in broad daylight on Dec. 17, 2010. Moore was set to testify against Hilario in a drug robbery that occurred several months earlier.
Hilario was convicted of murder in the first degree for the Moore killing and sentenced to life in prison in 2013, but the conviction was remanded for a new trial in 2017 due to procedural issues.
Serving as his own attorney in a new trial at the Fifth Circuit Court in Lihu‘e, Hilario poked at Manaku’s credibility on Monday. Manaku was a childhood friend of the defendant, who said he sometimes helped him collect drug debts.
Hilario highlighted the fact that, in the days after Moore was killed, Manaku made a series of statements that contradict his current testimony. In Dec. 19, 2010, interviews with police, he said that he had no involvement with the shooting, whatsoever.
“What you told them was a complete lie and deception, right?” Hilario asked.
Manaku admitted to initially lying to the police, addressing his former friend as “sir.”
“Which one’s the truth?” said Hilario, his voice rising in intensity as he hammered the point.
“What I‘m testifying here, sir,” Manaku said.
Manaku eventually admitted to police that he had been present, claiming Hilario had dropped him off at the site of the shooting before returning and shooting Moore without Manaku’s knowledge or consent.
For more than a year after that, he claimed Hilario had dropped him off alone. In April 2012, he changed his testimony again, claiming that Jens Kyler Hansen-Loo had been dropped off with him as well and was present during the shooting.
Manaku said he had initially been protecting Hansen-Loo from potential prosecution, but changed his story when he learned Hansen-Loo planned to testify against him.
These were issues that were raised in the initial trial as well, with Hilario’s former lawyer Keith Shigetomi arguing the discrepancies were grounds for the removal of Manaku’s prosecutorial immunity. His immunity deal was maintained, and he testified under immunity in this trial as well.
Hilario hints at
defense strategy
After Manaku’s testimony concludes, Hilario is expected to begin his defense.
Over the course of the month, he has filed a series of subpoenas for prosecutors involved in the 2013 case.
Kaua‘i Deputy County Attorney Chris Donahoe appeared on behalf of one of the subpoenaed prosecutors — arguing that the subpoena should be quashed due to a lack of necessity.
In response, Hilario alleged that these prosecutors had engaged in “gross, severe misconduct,” by interfering with Manaku’s testimony.
“The argument is that they were assisting Mr. Manaku in creating testimony,” summarized Judge Randal Valenciano, who requested additional research from Donahoe to address the allegation.
The motions related to these subpoenas will be addressed in court Tuesday afternoon.
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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
