Ex-fugitive says he ran
due to threats by police
An Ewa Beach man who attempted to flee to the Philippines on the day he was to be sentenced for sexually assaulting four girls said he ran partly because police had threatened him and his family.
Jovie Adora, 24, pleaded guilty in March to four counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. He was facing a 20-year prison term when he left Circuit Court on June 4 just prior to sentencing.
Adora was arrested on Guam the next day en route to the Philippines and returned to Hawaii.
Yesterday, Adora was granted a continuance of his sentencing to Oct. 29 because he has hired a new lawyer. He is also asking the court to reconsider its earlier denial of his request to withdraw his guilty plea.
Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell called Adora's allegations "the fantasy of a desperate man."
"He's in a desperate situation, and the fact that he fled from court is evidence," Bell said. "The fact that he never raised these allegations of police misconduct before calls into question their credibility."
Adora also said he fled because he lacked confidence in the way his lawyer was handling the case.
According to a declaration filed by Adora last month, he was driving home to Ewa Beach just before midnight Feb. 27 when he was pulled over by a car with flashing blue lights.
He said two men in plain clothes identified themselves as police officers and ordered him from his car. They handcuffed him and placed him in the back seat of a dark-colored Chevy Impala or Malibu, Adora said.
When he asked what he had done wrong, he was told, "You have no rights anymore. ... You are on bail for raping my friend's daughter."
(One of the girls Adora was accused of sexually assaulting is the daughter of a Honolulu policeman.)
Adora said he was warned that if he tried to fight his cases, he would wind up dead or his family members would be harmed.
He said one of the men pulled a silver 9-mm handgun and pointed it at his head. "I was scared and thought I would die and said that I would agree to the plea deal," Adora said.
He said he never told anyone about what happened because he feared for himself and his family. But he asked his lawyer at the time, Keith Shigetomi, to file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the basis that he was confused and feeling pressured.
About two months later, Adora claimed, he was pulled over again on Old Farrington Highway by a unmarked Mustang with blue lights. Two men, including one who appeared to be the driver in the earlier incident, made him drive to old camping grounds by Barbers Point, where he was questioned why he was withdrawing his plea. They told him to "go home and keep my mouth shut or else."
Adora said he is now speaking publicly about what happened because it is the only way to ensure no one gets hurt.
A police spokeswoman declined comment on the allegations.
