KEALAKEKUA — A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of a man charged with 23 counts of burglary, robbery, firearm possession and other offenses, after ruling the prosecution had not provided required information to the defense.
Darren “Shorty” Grace, 35, allegedly committed a string of offenses from Aug. 18 to 21, 2015, as part of a group of four people.
The trial began on Tuesday, with deputy prosecuting attorney Kauanoe Jackson as the lead prosecutor, who was seeking a life sentence for the violations, and Terri Fujioka-Lilley as the defense counsel.
On Wednesday witnesses made statements that referenced materials the defense never received in the discovery process, Fujioka-Lilley said.
It included fingerprint tests from one burglary that indicated someone else was at the scene. Although it was about 20 pages out of 900 pages of discovery, she said the materials were important to the case.
“I don’t believe Ms. Jackson intentionally withheld the information, but it has the same effect, regardless of intent,” Fujioka-Lilley said.
“I was really disheartened when it came up,” she said, adding that the amount of research and investigation this new material requires meant they had no choice but to ask Third Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra for a mistrial.
Ibarra decided the prosecution violated the rules of discovery and asked the defense what remedy it wanted. Fujioka-Lilley asked that it be restarted later. Ibarra had the option to order the trial be delayed, but opted to end it instead.
“You can’t just stop the trial and tell the jury to come back in a month,” Fujioka-Lilley said.
The new trial is Nov. 16.
Grace remains in custody. He is accused of a string of thefts, driving a stolen car and pulling gun on a man after the man attempted to stop him and a group of men from breaking into cars.
Attempts to reach Jackson for comment were unsuccessful by press time Thursday.