|
Limahai will face
Sept. 27 trial
The former Miss Hawaii USA
could get 10 years in prison
Former beauty queen Tiffini Limahai will stand trial in Circuit Court on drug charges after she waived her right to a preliminary hearing yesterday in District Court.
Limahai, 30, formerly known as Tiffini Hercules, was charged Wednesday with second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She and husband John Limahai Jr., 31, a construction laborer, were arrested the day before in Kailua with drugs and paraphernalia following a three-month investigation.
At the time of her arrest, Limahai, formerly Miss Hawaii USA in 1998, was seen discarding a Tommy Hilfiger backpack that was recovered for evidence, according to police. A search of the backpack yielded her ID, about $1,000 worth of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," small quantities of rock cocaine and marijuana, and a digital scale, police said.
Scott Collins, Limahai's attorney, declined to comment on the charges but said they decided to waive the hearing because after reviewing all the facts of the case, it was "in her best interests."
Limahai remains in custody in lieu of $15,000 bail and is doing "as well as could be expected considering everything that's occurred," said Collins. If convicted, she faces a maximum 10 years in prison.
Limahai's family and friends attended yesterday's hearing to support her. Supporters included Tayshea Aiwohi, who is on probation after pleading guilty to using ice and causing the death of her newborn baby boy in 2001. Aiwohi's case was the first in Hawaii in which a mother was charged for killing her baby by smoking methamphetamine while pregnant or breast-feeding.
Limahai will be arraigned in Circuit Court on Monday.
District Judge Christopher McKenzie also ruled that Limahai Jr. should also stand trial on third-degree promotion of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 4 in Circuit Court.
At the time of his arrest, he was wearing a fanny pack that was later found to contain four plastic baggies containing 0.351 grams of ice, police said.
He remains in custody in lieu of $25,000 bail. At the time of his arrest, he was awaiting sentencing on Oct. 25 for an auto theft conviction.
His attorney, Victor Bakke, said it might not make sense for Limahai Jr. to go to trial on the drug case if they can get an agreement combining the earlier conviction. Limahai Jr. could have received a deferral of his no-contest plea for the auto theft but faces mandatory sentencing in this case because crystal methamphetamine is involved, Bakke said. Limahai Jr. faces a maximum of five years in prison.
