A coalition of Hawaii law enforcement officials has endorsed a package of state legislative bills to curb crime, including one intended to discourage domestic violence.

The bill, pending in the state Legislature since last year, would raise misdemeanor assaults and terroristic threatening crimes to felonies for a domestic violence offender who has been served with a temporary restraining order.

State Attorney General Mark Bennett said the goal is to deter an offender from violating the temporary restraining order and hurting the victim.

“;If this bill saves the life of one women, it is more than worth it,”; Bennett said.

Flanked by several police chiefs and prosecutors, Bennett spoke yesterday at a news media conference in the attorney general's office.

The coalition also supported a bill that would expand the definition of second-degree murder to include an act committed with the probability of causing deadly or serious bodily injury to another person which results in death.

Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said under state law, a killer who says there was no intent to cause a death could be convicted of manslaughter even if the physical evidence points to murder.

  Hawaii Law Enforcers Push For Bill Approval

 

One of the top priority of Hawaii Law Enforcement Officials is to make it easier to convict someone of murder.

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Carlisle said other jurisdictions, including Chicago, have similar laws.

“;We're way behind the ball on this,”; Carlisle said. “;We have a weak murder statute.”;

According to the prosecutor's office, the most recent example was Glenn Keohokapu Jr., who claimed self-defense in removing a knife from his vehicle and stabbing to death 19-year-old Steven Wilcox outside a Kaneohe bar in 2008.

The jury rejected the killing as intentional and found the defendant guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.

The coalition said it supported a bill that make more offenses eligible for charges filed through paperwork signed by judges, rather than by a preliminary hearing or grand jury.

Prosecutors want to add felonies related to unauthorized entry into a dwelling, unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, and methamphetamine trafficking in the second degree.

Carlisle said the change would free police to enforce laws, rather than spending time testifying in court during the initial phase of a criminal case.

He said the proposed addition would reduce the trauma to witnesses and victims and save time and money.