A Hilo jury on Thursday found a 32-year-old Hilo man guilty of first-degree attempted murder first-degree assault in the shootings of two police officers on Jan. 2, 2013.
Keaka Martin was also found guilty of two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, carrying a loaded firearm on a street or highway, illegal place to keep a pistol and second-degree reckless endangering. He was found not guilty of altering the identification marks of a firearm.
Martin was found guilty of first-degree attempted murder for the shooting of Hilo Patrol Officer Joshua Gouveia in the parking lot of the Pono Place, the former Green Onion cocktail lounge, on Kilauea Avenue in Hilo. He was found guilty of the lesser included offense of first-degree assault for the shooting of Hilo Patrol Officer Garrett Hatada.
Both suffered wounds to their lower extremities and both have since returned to duty.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ordered Martin, who is incarcerated without bail at Hawaii Community Correctional Center, to return for sentencing at 9 a.m. June 20. Martin faces a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole for the first-degree attempted murder conviction.