The two-day trial of Kalalau Rivera, charged with assaulting and robbing a tourist last April, has ended in an acquittal. The jury was out for less than an hour last Tuesday before finding Rivera not guilty. The incident for which
The two-day trial of Kalalau Rivera, charged with assaulting and robbing a tourist last April, has ended in an acquittal.
The jury was out for less than an hour last Tuesday before finding Rivera not guilty.
The incident for which Rivera was tried occurred one year ago, when a male visitor who had been drinking with two young locals at a Princeville hotel was taken for a ride.
The visitor was driven to the Pines and was beaten by two local men and robbed.
Defense witnesses claimed Rivera was mistaken for a friend who had admitted the assault to them.
The defense witnesses had no answer when questioned by Kaua`i County chief deputy prosecutor Craig De Costa as to why they waited almost a year to come forward.
But it didn’t seem to matter to the jury.
De Costa expressed disappointment at the verdict.
Rivera’s attorney, Al Castillo, a former Kaua`i County Chief Deputy Prosecutor, said he wasn’t surprised by the verdict.
“I believed in the case I presented but I was surprised at how quickly the jury came back,” Castillo noted.
De Costa said Rivera had a previous felony charge reduced by a Kaua`i jury to a misdemeanor a few years ago.
According to prosecutors, Rivera has another assault trial upcoming April 30 that stems from yet another, separate incident last year.
Castillo said he is representing the defendant in that case also.
