State changes system
after convict freed

A man who was shot and killed Tuesday
should have been in prison at the time

By Linda Aragon
Star-Bulletin

The state has changed its court procedures after a flaw in the system allowed a convicted man to stay out of jail.

The man, Jose Bueno, 27, should have been locked up at Oahu Community Correctional Center after he was convicted of violating a restraining order involving his girlfriend's family, a court spokeswoman said.

Instead, he was shot and killed early Tuesday morning in the family's home. His girlfriend's father has been arrested in the killing.

On Aug. 14, District Court Judge Colette Garibaldi sentenced Bueno to 90 days in jail for violating the temporary restraining order. Garibaldi granted Bueno a one-week delayed sentence, at his request, to visit his newborn son.

Bueno was supposed to return to court on Aug. 22 to begin his sentence, but when he failed to do so, the courts did not to issue a bench warrant for his arrest.

"Normally a bench warrant would have been issued immediately for his arrest. Unfortunately in this case, it was not," said state court spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa.

She said it is so rare that a delayed sentence is granted that those cases are never put on the court's calendar for the day the defendant is supposed to appear.

Also, the prison system is not given any paper work notifying them that a prisoner is supposed to begin his delayed sentence.

Kitagawa said in most domestic abuse cases, the perpetrator typically obeys the court order. And in 99 percent of cases where a jail sentence is given, the perpetrator is taken straight from the courthouse to jail.

But in Bueno's case, the court had no system in place to track whether he had appeared in court and had begun his sentence. No one was looking for him as he defied Garibaldi's orders.

"Several corrective measures have already been taken to ensure this situation will never happen again," Kitagawa said.

She said the state will implement these changes:

Cases in which delayed incarceration has been granted will be calendared for the date the defendant will appear in court.

A copy of the order will be sent to OCCC to notify public safety officials of the pending incarceration.

Bench warrants will automatically be issued for non appearance in court in cases where the sentences were delayed.