GE Tax: Audit Shows Tourists Pay 14.1%--not 30%
HD37 Nominees to Replace Yamane: Ron Menor, Charlotte Nekota, Trish LaChica
Secret Report by Secret Author Used to Expel Top Execs of Bishop Museum
Soft on Crime: Man charged with attacking elderly woman in her home had murder conviction overturned on Technicality
HNN: … Court records show the 32-year-old suspect in a brutal home invasion this week was sentenced in 2011 to life behind bars for the fatal stabbing of his neighbor.
But Takson Krstoth became a free man a year ago after his murder conviction was overturned and he served time for a lesser charge. Krstoth is now accused of attacking a 77-year-old woman in her Mililani home on Monday night.
He remains behind bars on $100,000 bail.
Court records show the state Supreme Court overturned Krstoth’s murder conviction in a case that hinged on (an alleged) language barrier. The high court ruled a judge didn’t do enough to make sure Krstoth understood the rights that he was giving up when he pleaded guilty to killing his neighbor.
The crime happened in Kalihi on Sept. 10, 2011.
Officers captured Krstoth just minutes after the fatal stabbing of his neighbor at Mayor Wright Homes.
Records show the then 21-year-old pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. But he later withdrew that confession.
And in 2016, the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
“In the defendant’s first murder case, he (claimed he) did not speak English. He (claimed he) didn’t read or write. He was represented by a public defender who utilized a Chuukese interpreter (and yet somehow this was not enough),” ….
read … Records: Man charged with attacking elderly woman in her home had murder conviction overturned
Sen Favella: Shut Down UH Manoa
SA: … Donna Mercado Kim, chair of the Senate Higher Education committee, said during the joint briefing with the Senate Ways and Means Committee that the student population at the Kapolei campus is “disappointing. … We spent millions of dollars on expanding the campus and putting in these buildings, and they’re empty.”
Sen. Kurt Favella said he wants to explore closing UH Manoa in favor of the Kapolei campus. “I think West Oahu is one of the most prestige and futuristic universities that’s going to be probably on this island,” Favella said. He added that he would consider a bill to “academically bring everything to West Oahu because that’s where the growth is.”
read … Senators take UH to task over spending
DPP Finally Processes Building Permit 5 Months After Chick-fil-a Opens
KITV: … The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting cited the Atlanta-based chicken restaurant chain for building out its space without a building permit.
A spokesman for D-P-P tells KITV4 Thursday that Chick-fil-A was issued a building permit last month, and that its notice of violation was corrected and closed.
Chick-fil-A opened its Ala Moana Center eatery last October to much fanfare and long lines. Some customers waiting in line for hours before the restaurant opened….
read … Chick-fil-A clears its violations with Honolulu regulators
99% of Medicated Dopers Say its for uh … ‘Pain’ or uh … ‘PTSD’
SA: …MEDICAL CANNABIS USE IN HAWAII
>> 33,400: Residents registered under the state’s medical cannabis program
>> 83%: Patients prescribed cannabis for pain
>> 16%: Patients prescribed cannabis for PTSD
>> 5%: Patients prescribed cannabis for cancer
read … Medical cannabis rules in Hawaii might be relaxed
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