HILO - Publicity about the 1991 murder of Big Island visitor Dana Ireland has made a fair trial on the island impossible for Shawn Schweitzer, one of three men accused of kidnapping, rape and murder in the case, say court documents filed by Schweitzer's attorney, Keith Shigetomi. Dana Ireland defendant
requests trial be movedShigetomi has filed a court motion asking that the trial, set for Nov. 2, be moved elsewhere in the state.
No similar motions have been filed by attorneys for Albert Ian Schweitzer, Shawn's brother, who is to be tried at the same time, and Frank Pauline Jr., who is to be tried March 1.
Shigetomi's motion calls the amount of publicity about the Ireland case "tremendous."
Between the time Ireland, 23, died on Christmas Eve, 1991, and last year, when charges were brought against the three suspects, the case was a focal point for community organizations calling for the arrest and indictment of suspects, Shigetomi said.
There were even bumper stickers supporting the Ireland family, he said.
The motion for a change of trial location and other motions are to be heard by Judge Riki May Amano on Friday.
10 Dolphins took part in RimPac
Ten dolphins, specially trained by the Navy, worked alongside Canadian divers and were used to clear a simulated minefield off Kauai during the recent RimPac exercises.The exercises were held in conjunction with an amphibious landing by Marines at Barking Sands' Pacific Missile Range Facility.
Tom Lapuzza, Navy spokesman with the Navy's Marine Mammal Program in San Diego, said: "The dolphins were used in a mine countermeasure capacity because they are so reliable. We can release them in the open ocean, and we can rely on them always returning."
Lapuzza said dolphins also have "an extremely sensitive biological sonar that allows them to find objects more effectively and quickly than human beings or electronic systems can."
The dolphins were kept on board the USS Juneau, an amphibious assault ship, in inflatable holding pens filled with salt water. Normally designed to carry 800 Marines, the 17,000-ton Juneau had been reconfigured to carry divers, dolphins and equipment.
The dolphins released buoys to mark the places where they detected the mines, and conveyed messages to mine-sweeping vessels through satellite-based global positioning systems attached to their backs, the Navy said. The job of dismantling the mines was left to human divers.
The monthlong U.S.-led biennial event, called the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, ended Aug. 6. The six participants included the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan and South Korea.
UH medical students receive symbolic coats
The University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine has welcomed 58 first-year students with their first white coats.Representatives of the Class of 1977 placed the coats on the students' shoulders in a ceremony Friday night.
The coats are doctors' "cloak of compassion," reminding them of the importance of the doctor-patient relationship, said Juliana J. Woo, the medical school's program manager.
The White Coat Ceremony was conceived in New York in 1993 by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to foster humanism in medicine. It was inaugurated at the university in 1996.
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice hold suspect in Maui stabbing death
WAILUKU - A 44-year-old Kihei man was being held for questioning by Maui police in connection with the stabbing death of another man this morning.Assistant Police Chief Glen Nakashima said according to a man occupying the dwelling, the man who was stabbed broke into the apartment about 1:22 a.m.
Nakashima said details were still sketchy and detectives were still gathering information about the stabbing.
No leads on suspects in teen-ager's shooting
Police said they have no leads yet on suspected gang members who shot a 16-year-old boy in the arm early yesterday morning.Police are looking for a group of gang members in their late teens to early 20s suspected of shooting the boy at 1:15 a.m. near the parking lot of McCully Shopping Center.
The youth told police he left the 7-Eleven store and saw a group of men threaten another group of men. A fight started but broke up after a gun was fired, police said.
Members from one of the groups saw the youth outside the store and hit him in the back of the head, challenging him to fight, according to police.
The teen refused and walked away.
The men, driving a white Jeep, confronted the teen again as he crossed Lime Street, police said. One of the passengers pulled out a silver revolver and fired three times at the teen, hitting him once in the right forearm. The teen fell to the ground, and the men fled. Police, called to the scene, found the injured teen on the ground. He was taken to Queen's Medical Center, where he was treated and later released.
Pair rob cabbie, throw chemical in his eyes
Police are looking for two men suspected of robbing a taxicab driver with a knife, then splashing a liquid chemical in his eyes early yesterday.The 47-year-old taxicab driver from Waipahu told police he picked up two men in their late teens to early 20s around 2 a.m. at Koliana Street in Waipio Gentry. He took them to the end of Lanikuhana Place. One of the men allegedly held a knife on the driver and demanded money.
After the driver turned over the money, the men knocked the victim's glasses off his face. Then one of the men threw a liquid irritant in his eyes, and the men fled, police said.
Hooded jogger robs purses of two women
A hooded man allegedly robbed two women of their purses early this morning, police said.Two women, aged 48 and 41, were dropped off by a friend at North King Street and Haka Drive around 3 a.m. A man jogged past them, then circled back and demanded their purses, according to police. The women saw the barrel of a gun. The women gave him their purses, and he ran off.
Police described the robber as in his 30s, 6 feet, 160 pounds, slim, and wearing a hood on his head, a gray pullover, black shorts and running shoes.
Man taken into custody after standoff on Maui
WAILUKU - A man was in custody this morning on Maui after ending a standoff with police and releasing a female hostage at Buzz's Wharf Restaurant in Maalaea.
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