...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM HST THURSDAY...
* WHAT...East winds 20 to 30 kt.
* WHERE...All surrounding coastal waters.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM HST Thursday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in these conditions.
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Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii.
After days of deliberation, a jury has found Michael Hirokawa not guilty on all charges in the 2020 attempted murder and assault of a Chicago woman at his Honolulu apartment.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- After days of deliberation, a jury has found Michael Hirokawa not guilty on all charges in the 2020 attempted murder and assault of a Chicago woman at his Honolulu apartment.
With the verdict, the case is now dismissed and Hirokawa is free.
Hirokawa was accused of violently assaulting the victim at his apartment in November 2020. During the trial, the prosecution displayed pictures of the blood-spattered scene where the alleged assault happened. The victim was visiting a friend in Honolulu when she met Hirokawa at a restaurant.
The two later ended up at Hirokawa's Capitol Place condo for a glass of wine, during which the woman claimed to have a sip or two. It was there that the victim alleged Hirokawa attacked and sexually assaulted her.
According to the prosecution, the woman waited until Hirokawa as asleep to escape, and she was later found naked and bloody outside of an elevator. The victim claims she was brutally raped, choked and stomped on until she almost died and has since had multiple surgeries for her injuries.
During his own testimony, Hirokawa said he did not remember anything after drinking wine and accused the victim of drugging him after lab tests found the sedative Ambien and hallucinogenic drug LSD in his wine glass.
Many who came to support Hirokawa shed tears of relief after the verdict was announced. Hirokawa himself declined an interview but his attorney, Alen Kaneshiro, shared being under house arrest and standing trial has been taxing for his client.
"It's bee a tough two and a half years, he's (Hirokawa) been under house arrest, really only being able to leave his house to meet with me and go to the doctor, it's been tough but he was very resilient. I'm sure he'[s happy the jury saw things the way they did," Kaneshiro said.
The Hawai'i Attorney General's office, which prosecuted the case, issued a statement saying, "while we are extremely disappointed in the verdict, we respect the process and thank the jury for its service."
Legal Expert Doug Chin told KITV4, "This was a very unusual case, you have a situation where the defendant took the stand and said he was involuntarily intoxicated by illegal drugs, and that's not always something people will always say in cases like this - hopefully this is not something that will cause future victims of sexual assault to be afraid to come forward, I don' t think that's really going to happen because of the fact these were such unusual circumstances, and the defendant was saying something that most people would not say in a case like this."
"Bottom line, the defendant, Mr. Hirokawa has been found not guilty, so any sort of restrictions that have been placed on him up until now, they're all lifted, he is not guilty of the crime that he was charged with, he went through trial and he can't be tried again", added Chin.
This is a developing story. Check back with KITV4 for more information.
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii.
