Trial delayed until July
in Dana Ireland murder

By Rod Thompson
Big Island correspondent

HILO -- Judge Riki May Amano this morning delayed until July 19 the trial of Frank Pauline Jr. in the 1991 murder of Big Island newcomer Dana Ireland.

Final jury selection had been set for this week, to be followed by an estimated seven-week trial starting June 14.

The judge delayed the case based on a motion made by defense attorney Clifford Hunt. The reason for the delay apparently was contained in a secret document, which Amano ordered kept under lock. Although a hearing on the motion was held in open court this morning, most of the discussion with the judge was held at the bench, or the judge's podium. Almost nothing of the discussion could be heard by observers in the courtroom.

Ireland, 23, was hit by a car while walking her bicycle in the rural Puna District on the Big Island on Christmas Eve 1991. She was taken five miles away, where she was raped, beaten and left to die.

A grand jury last week reindicted brothers Shawn Schweitzer, 23, and Albert Ian Schweitzer, 27, in the case. They are charged with murder, kidnapping and sexual assault.