KEALAKEKUA — A District Court judge found there to be sufficient evidence to commit the case of a Kailua-Kona man and woman facing several drug charges to 3rd Circuit Court.
A preliminary hearing for both Michelle Wright, 43, and Samson Keanaaina, 53, took place Monday afternoon. The pair were arrested last week after a search warrant executed on a homeless campsite at Old Kona Airport Park on March 8 yielded various amounts of drugs and paraphernalia.
During Monday’s hearing, two Hawaii Police Department officers testified about the day the search warrant was issued.
Marco Segobia, lead investigator on the case, said in court a warrant had been executed on a campsite that included two 10-by-10-foot tents. Inside were Keanaaina and Wright lying on a bed together.
Segobia said commands were made to the pair to come out of the tent. Wright complied. When she was outside, she told officers Keanaaina was hearing impaired.
Officers were able to communicate with Keanaaina and he complied with their commands.
During a search of the tent, Segobia testified, officers found a dark solid-colored Hydro Flask at the south end of the bed. Inside were three zip packets and a substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine.
A smaller floral-print Hydro Flask was also found on the bed. Inside were three glass pipes that had methamphetamine residue.
Segobia described two backpacks also recovered from the scene. The first was a Swiss Army backpack, inside which he said investigators found Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) ID for Keanaaina and his Social Security card. It also contained digital scales and angle-cut straws.
The second backpack, a leopard-print Hello Kitty backpack, was found to have Wright’s ID inside, as well as methamphetamine, digital scales and a lot of unused zip packets.
Segobia testified the items found are consistent with methamphetamine distribution.
Officers also discovered a plastic wrapper on the bed where Keanaaina was sleeping. The substance on the wrapper field tested positive for heroin.
The defense asked how many officers assisted in serving the warrant. Segobia responded at least 10 people were involved for officer safety reasons.
“We like to go home to our families,” he said.
Officer Kyle Hirayama testified that he collected and field tested the Hydro Flasks, the wrapper and pipes. He also gathered the backpacks.
In total, the officers said they found 171.3 grams, more than 6.1 ounces, of suspected crystal methamphetamine, 45.5 grams of suspected marijuana and 0.4 grams of suspected black tar heroin.
Deputy Public Defender Wendy DeWeese, Keanaaina’s attorney, unsuccessfully asked the court to drop the charge of promoting a controlled substance in a park.
“There is no evidence that he intended to promote a controlled substance in that area other than that he was living there,” DeWeese said.
The judge found there was probable cause to move the case to 3rd Circuit Court. Wright and Keanaaina will appear Thursday for an arraignment and plea hearing.
Keanaaina faces 10 charges, including one count of first-degree promoting dangerous drugs; four counts of possessing drug paraphernalia; three counts of third-degree promoting dangerous drugs; one count of second-degree promoting detrimental drugs; and promoting controlled substances in a park.
Wright faces eight charges, including first-degree promoting dangerous drugs; three counts of possessing drug paraphernalia; one count of second-degree promoting dangerous drugs; one count of third-degree promoting dangerous drugs; one count of third-degree promoting detrimental drugs, and promoting controlled substances in a park.