By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
About 50 supporters of Gabriel Kealoha gather at Circuit Court
before his hearing today. Supporters held signs with messages
such as "Grant Bail, Free Gabe."

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Kealoha hearings
opened up

The Family Court agrees to open
the files at the prosecutor's request

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

In an unprecedented move, Family Court Judge Daryl Choy today agreed to open both the court hearing and case file of Gabriel Kealoha. The hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. today.

Choy's ruling came after city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle this morning sought to open up the bail hearing for Kealoha in Family Court -- normally, a closed court proceeding -- and asked that Kealoha's juvenile case file be unsealed.

The court had recessed as it worked out how much of the hearing and the case file to open, according to Carlisle, who said he requested the action because "so far, only a distorted view has been coming from one perspective."

He said Kealoha and his attorney, Hayden Aluli, "on their own" have called press conferences and discussed all facts of the case, so the youth's right to confidentiality has already been waived.

The motion was "to open the proceeding based upon a waiver of confidentiality," Carlisle said. "Now you'll be able to hear both sides of it."

Kealoha was present at the start of today's 8:30 a.m. session, a bail hearing on his request to be partially released from a youth facility to start a special college preparatory program on Sunday.

Kealoha, 18, was convicted of manslaughter for the death of Honolulu police Sgt. Arthur Miller, 45, who fell off an overpass on the H-1 freeway near the airport viaduct Oct. 27.

About 50 Kealoha supporters, including Hawaiian activist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, gathered at Circuit Court before the hearing. Supporters held signs with messages such as "Hawaii Courts Flawed, No Justice," "Grant Bail, Free Gabe" and "Racist Decision and an Act of Genocide." Kealoha's parents, Elyse and Lawrence, handed out fliers before heading in for the hearing.

Since April 16, Kealoha has been confined to the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility in Kailua. He hopes to be allowed to stay in a University of Hawaii dorm during the week and return to the Kailua detention center on weekends.

He was sentenced to stay at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility until his 19th birthday, Feb. 1, 1998. Two earlier requests for conditional release have been rejected, despite two separate favorable recommendations by a diagnostic review panel. Kealoha, 17 at the time of the Oct. 27 incident, was tried in juvenile court.

Kealoha broke the legal silence Tuesday in a news conference at the youth facility.

He said Miller's car was tailgating his and Miller forced him off the side of the freeway. He said a fight broke out and he pushed Miller in self-defense.