A judge delayed sentencing Monday for a 34-year-old Kona man found guilty by a jury of assaulting a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest after she learned the defendant hadn’t yet had a chance to review a pre-sentencing report and consult with his attorney.
Kona Circuit Court Judge Wendy DeWeese opted to continue the hearing two weeks after hearing sentencing arguments from Deputy Public Defender James Greenberg and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chase Murray, and defendant Shannon K. Ke’s address to the court.
“I’m uncomfortable sentencing you because I’m looking at a big document here that contains all sorts of information about you,” DeWeese said after asking Ke if he’d read statements in the report from the victim (Hawaii Police Department) Officer Randall Hancock, his wife and his mother about the March 16, 2019, incident on the shoreline fronting Huggo’s Restaurant. “I think you have the right to see it because otherwise you are not on notice of what things I’m considering in sentencing you. Frankly, I’m not comfortable in continuing with your sentencing right now because you have not had a chance to review with your lawyer the pre-sentence investigation. There are things in here you might want to respond to.”
Greenberg said he didn’t have the ability to go over the report with his client due to the ongoing lockdown at Hawaii Community Correctional Center. The Hilo jail has been on quarantine protocol since late May, when two COVID-19 cases cropped at the facility.
“I didn’t go because of COVID. I should have sent it (via mail). I didn’t go to the jail because I haven’t been able to,” Greenberg said.
DeWeese then instructed Greenberg to try to go over the report with his client via phone call or Zoom, though noting a phone call “is not meaningful consultation.” She also stated she would sign an ex parte motion or order to allow the attorney access to the jail, if requested by the facility’s warden.
“I’ll be happy to sign that kind of an order,” she noted.
Greenberg noted he is fully vaccinated and would like to visit his client. Ke also chimed in that while he was sickened with COVID-19 in the recent outbreak, he has also been vaccinated.
“I know that DPS is trying to do the right thing by trying to protect everybody’s health and welfare, but at some point we can’t keep the jail locked down like this,” said DeWeese.
In an emailed response to a request for comment regarding the sentencing’s continuance, Department of Public Safety Spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said: Due to the current COVID-19 situation at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center, we provide Zoom calls for attorney/client privileged discussions.”
“We also have been working with the courts to facilitate video hearings, including bail, status hearings, and sentencing hearings. The video option is used to ensure the health and safety of all those involved,” she continued.”
On Monday, Hawaii Community Correctional Center said it received 21 inmate test results. Of that number, one was positive and 20 were negative, leaving the number of active cases at the facility at eight. Since the start of the current outbreak in late May, 253 inmates and 24 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier this month, the department declared all inmates free of COVID-19 before more positives cropped up.
As of the most recent inmate population report issued July 5, Hawaii Community Correctional Center reported having 262 inmates at the facility — 36 inmates over operational bed capacity.
Prior to DeWeese delaying the hearing, Murray had argued for the state to sentence Ke to concurrent prison terms of five years for first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and one year for resisting arrest, with credit for time served.
“Every witness that testified said that the defendant was the aggressor. Officer Hancock did not do anything but act in a professional manner and that the defendant struck the first blow and continued to attack officer Hancock once they were in the water,” Murray said. “That’s the evidence before the court and those are the facts the jury convicted the defendant o. There’s no defenses, and certainly none found by the jury.”
Greenberg argued for probation, noting his client has already been infected with COVID-19 and has served 778 days — which is over two years behind bars. He also noted his client doesn’t have a violent record.
“I humbly apologize for my actions that day. It could have went another route, a much better route. I’m ready to be a better person in the community,” Ke said, speaking via Zoom from Hawaii Community Correctional Center. “I’m trying to be there for my daughter … and I’m ready to move forward with my life, to actually get a job, be a better asset in the world.”
Ke was found guilty by a jury on May 5 of resisting arrest and first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer following a weeklong trial.
Ke had faced first-degree attempted murder with the enhancement of a hate crime, disorderly conduct, first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree assault on Hancock in connection with the March 16, 2019 incident in Kailua Village.
During the trial, Hancock testified he has not worked since the incident, having been placed on disability because of nerve problems in his arms and hands, consciousness and memory issues, seizures and problems with mobility. He said he never faced any of the conditions prior to the March 26, 2019, incident.
If Ke had been convicted of first-degree attempted murder, he would have faced life in prison without the possibility of parole.