Man wrongfully convicted in Dana Ireland’s murder could be compensated by the state

Your top local headlines for Friday, Jan. 27, 2023.
Published: Jan. 27, 2023 at 6:52 AM HST

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The search for Dana Ireland’s real killer is already underway.

Hawaii County Police and prosecutors said they are awaiting the results of analysis on a DNA sample from the 1991 murder scene in Puna.

The Hawaii Innocence Project contracted a private lab to do the testing.

This comes days after Albert Ian Schweitzer was exonerated of the murder after serving 23 years behind bars.

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Under state law, he could get $50,000 for every year he spent in prison, but that would require more than a judge throwing out his conviction.

“You vacate and if the prosecution dismisses the indictment there’s no finding of actual innocence, so there has to be a special hearing for it or else the statute is useless,” explained Ken Lawson of the Hawaii Innocence Project.

State Sen. Karl Rhoads said he is willing to re-examine a state law — that he helped pass years ago — to make sure wrongly imprisoned people are compensated.

“There is a provision for it. If the pardon says you’re actually innocent, they could ask the governor to give them a pardon,” Rhoads said.

This story will be updated.