The suspect in a Puna murder caused a commotion Tuesday afternoon in a courtroom half-full of people who were there to see a preliminary hearing in his case.
At the request of the defense, Hilo District Judge Harry Freitas suspended the scheduled hearing and ordered a mental evaluation for 43-year-old Seon Keoni Aki of Nanawale Estates. Reports from three mental health professionals are due on July 2, and a hearing on those reports is scheduled for July 9 at 1:30 p.m.
“There was some information contained within the (police) reports that made it appropriate at this stage,” said Francis Alcain, Aki’s court-appointed attorney, after the brief court proceeding. He declined to comment further.
Aki is accused of the May 20 slaying of 40-year-old Mateo D. Balinbin Jr. of Nanawale Estates in Balinbin’s Maui Street residence, next door to Aki’s home. Police say Balinbin was killed with a single gunshot to the head.
Aki appeared in custody wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and shackles. As he was being led out of the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies, Aki looked toward the back of the courtroom gallery and shouted: “They’re raping people down at the house! You should know!”
A woman’s voice from the back of the courtroom shouted back: “You’re the molester!”
According to court records, Aki is a convicted felon and a registered sex offender. He was charged with first-degree sex assault in 2001, but in a deal with prosecutors, Aki pleaded guilty to third-degree sex assault on Jan. 29, 2003, and was sentenced to a year in jail with credit for time served and 10 years probation.
In addition to sex offender registration, Aki was ordered to seek both psychosexual and anger-management treatment.
On Jan. 19, 2007, Aki was found to be noncompliant with terms of his probation, and Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura restarted the clock on his 10-year probationary term.
A neighbor, Don Sambrana, told police that he was in the same room and within 10 feet of the victim when the shooting occurred. Sambrana said he didn’t actually see the shooting, but heard a single gunshot and saw Balinbin “slumped to the ground … bleeding profusely to the head,” documents state.
Another neighbor, Mitchell Kamelamela, reportedly heard the gunshot, then saw Aki running out of Balinbin’s house, chasing after Sambrana while holding a black semi-automatic pistol. He said that Aki was “yelling for Sambrana.”
Sambrana also told police that Aki was yelling for him, saying “that’s why braddah boy is dead,” before leaving the scene, documents state.
Aki was arrested a couple of hours later at a home in Hawaiian Paradise Park. He is charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony and two other firearms charges.
Aki remains in custody in Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $360,000 bail.
