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By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Albert Batalona, being tried on charges of bank robbery
and attempted murder of a police officer, listens today to
a prosecuting attorney's presentation in Circuit Court.

Defense says
bank robber did not
fire at police officer

Albert Batalona, whose trial
opened today, faces life with
no parole if found guilty
of attempted murder

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Who actually shot at officer Frederick Rosskoph?

That's the question the defense is raising in the first-degree attempted-murder trial of accused bank robber Albert Batalona.

In opening statements today, defense attorney David Klein said there is no dispute that four men including Batalona robbed the American Savings Bank in Kahala on July 7, 1999.

But the wrong man is on trial for attempted murder of a police officer, he said.

Co-defendants Jacob Hayme and Sean Matsunaga have admitted they fired shots that day, Klein said.

Another defendant, Roger Dailey, contradicted earlier statements to police and the grand jury and admitted he heard shots fired but did not see Batalona firing his weapon, Klein continued. Shell casings later found outside the bank on Hunakai Street next to Kahala Mall matched the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle Matsunaga carried and the AK-47 rifle Hayme carried that day, Klein said.

Deputy prosecutor Jean Ireton said the evidence will show that after Batalona fled the bank, he made eye contact with Officer Rosskoph, who was attempting to hide behind shrubbery behind the bank, and opened fire in a "hail of bullets."

Trial was interrupted at around 10:30 a.m. when power went out in the court building.

Batalona faces life without parole, the state's harshest penalty, if convicted of the attempted-murder charge.

He is also on trial for first-degree robbery and two firearms offenses.

Matsunaga and Hayme have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to robbery and carrying a semiautomatic weapon during the robbery. Both face up to 25 years' imprisonment with a mandatory 10 years for the weapons charge.

Dailey pleaded guilty to robbery after implicating his cohorts, and is expected to testify for the state. Currently in protective custody, he also faces 25 years' imprisonment when sentenced.

All three will be sentenced after Batalona's trial.