KEALAKEKUA — The woman who told police a man raped and beat her tried to recant her complaint and end the case Thursday afternoon.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Kate Deleon did not agree, and continued the case against Anthony Issei Makahanaloa, 22, Kailua-Kona, who is charged with seven counts: kidnapping, two counts of first-degree sexual assault, first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree assault, family abuse and family abuse where a household member under the age of 14 is present.
The final charge relates to the alleged incidents happening near a 10-month-old child. The other six all feature the same woman as the victim.
Makahanaloa was in court Thursday for his preliminary hearing, where Judge Margaret Masunaga would decide if there was probable cause to proceed.
The case revealed a gap between what the woman told police on Nov. 6, after the incident, and what she said now.
She said she was angry at Makahanaloa for how he hurt her, and wanted him to get in trouble. When she realized how much trouble that could be, she said she told the truth.
The woman’s testimony remained consistent for the beginning of the event. She was at their shared home in a video chat with a male friend.
When Makahanaloa came home and saw her talking with a shirtless man, he became angry, the victim said, and accused her of infidelity.
Detective Sharlotte Byrd of the Hawaii Police Department said that Makahanaloa’s statement agreed that he saw her talking to a man and began arguing with her.
Thursday, the victim said that Makahanaloa broke her phone and laptop.
The argument took place while a 10-month old child was sleeping in a bedroom, she said in court.
Byrd testified that the woman had said she was holding the child.
The woman said Makahanaloa backhanded her and ordered her out to the truck, where they would go driving.
His statement to Byrd said he admitted to hitting her.
She said she put the child in a rear-facing car seat, while she and Makahanaloa kept arguing.
It’s in the car that her story begins to diverge.
Her statement on police on Nov. 6 said she was threatened, hit with a pistol, and made to perform sex acts.
In court she said that there was no pistol produced, she was never threatened and the sex acts were consensual.
Police later found a backpack with a loaded Glock magazine in the truck. Makahanaloa said the black Glock was at his parent’s house during the event.
Both of her versions agree to the end of the event.
She said Makahanaloa finally ordered her out of the truck near Guava Lane and drove off. She got under some bushes and stayed there until morning, before making her way to McDonald’s and using a borrowed phone to call her sister for help.
“You were emotional when you went to the police station and said those things that were not true,” Datta said.
The victim agreed.
“I was hurt and he abandoned me,” the victim said.
On questioning from the prosecution, Byrd said that the victim seemed calm and collected when she gave her testimony.
There was also a dispute over the extent of the victim’s injuries. She said she wasn’t really injured when questioned in court.
Byrd testified that she saw a black eye, bruise by the other eye, bruising on her left inner thigh, lacerations on the right knee and other injuries.
Masunaga found that the case could convince a reasonable person that there was a strong suspicion the crime occurred and ordered the case to proceed.
The next hearing will be at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 11 at the district four court.