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By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Albert Batalona (right) stares in disbelief as a state Circuit
Court jury convicted him for his part in last year's American
Savings Bank robbery and shootout in Kahala. Standing
with him is his attorney, David Klein.

Bank robber
guilty of attempted
murder; faces
life sentence

His confederates pleaded
guilty and face up to 25
years in prison

---

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Convicted bank robber Albert Batalona faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury also found him guilty of attempting to kill a police officer in a shootout in Kahala.

Batalona, 24, shook his head yesterday as the court clerk read the "guilty" verdicts.

He will be sentenced Oct. 10.

The jury found Batalona guilty as charged of first-degree robbery for holding up the American Savings Bank in Kahala last July, first-degree attempted murder for attempting to kill Officer Frederick Rosskopf, possessing a firearm while hijacking a bakery delivery van from the elderly driver and possessing a prohibited weapon.

Just before the sentencing ended, Batalona stood up as if objecting to the verdict, and appeared as though he wanted to leave the courtroom. Three deputy sheriffs stood in his way and persuaded him to take his seat. His hanai mother and a young girl left the courtroom in tears.

The defense did not dispute that Batalona had robbed the bank with three others -- Sean Matsunaga, Jacob Hayme and Roger Dailey. But Batalona's attorney, David Klein, said the state failed to prove that Batalona was the shooter or that he intended to kill anyone.

Hayme and Matsunaga, in taped statements admitted into evidence, also acknowledged firing shots that day.

"What's sad is all of them involved were just frightened kids," Klein said outside the courtroom.

It was a horrible situation involving guns, but "no one, not Mr. Batalona, none of those individuals ever wanted anyone to get hurt," Klein said.

The state says the jury believed otherwise. "I was very relieved that the jury found you cannot take an automatic assault rifle, aim it at a police officer and fire 25 rounds without intending to kill him," said Deputy Prosecutor Jean Ireton.

Of the 29 bullet casings later found in the bank parking lot and the homes across the street from the Hunakai Street branch of American Savings, 25 were fired by an AR-15, the type of assault rifle that Batalona carried that day, prosecutors said.

Five were fired by a Norinco AK-47, an assault rifle that Hayme carried. Hayme, in taped statements, said he may have fired some shots outside the bank but was shooting in the air and didn't point a firearm at anyone.

Dailey testified that he jumped into the getaway vehicle parked outside the bank and heard shots coming from Batalona's direction, but didn't actually see Batalona's finger on the trigger.

Matsunaga, in his taped statement, claimed he fired his gun, also an AR-15, at the officer to protect himself after hearing shots fired.

But according to a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Matsunaga made no mention of firing his own weapon, and instead said it was Batalona who fired numerous rounds at the police officer.

Matsunaga admitted to being the one who came up with the idea of a "takeover" robbery because they had seen something on television that said such robberies usually yield more money than just passing a demand note to the teller.

Hayme, Matsunaga and Dailey await sentencing after pleading guilty to bank robbery in U.S. District Court. They face up to 25 years imprisonment.

Matsunaga and Hayme also face a mandatory 10 years in prison on a weapons charge. It's up to federal prosecutors to decide whether they violated their plea agreements by refusing to testify at Batalona's trial.