WAILUKU, HI — A court refused a woman’s plea to be freed from jail, in part so she could assist the defense investigation into charges that she attacked a dog in Paia with a machete.
Tiare Kawaakoa, 40, of Kahului, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree animal cruelty and terroristic threats.
She was arrested on August 13 for allegedly hitting the dog and threatening his owner while the critter was restrained at the Paia municipal parking lot on Hana Highway.
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Deputy Public Defender Tyler Stevenson testified in 2nd Circuit Court on Thursday that the dog “was hostile and assaulting her dog.”
“Her acts are usually in defense of her own dog,” Stevenson explained.
He said that police did not speak with all of the witnesses who were there that day, and that Kawaakoa’s assistance in researching and identifying witnesses was “essential.”
“Her presence in detention has harmed that capacity,” Stevenson argued in requesting that she be freed on supervision.
Stevenson stated in a motion that Kawaakoa was released on supervision on Aug. 15 when the matter was in Wailuku District Court and appeared to be obeying court directions at the time. Bail was set at $50,000 when she was arrested at the end of August, but it was later lowered to $10,000.
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The prosecution objected to Kawaakoa’s discharge.
“Despite what the defendant claimed, all evidence led to the dog being tethered,” Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp stated. “She approached and attacked the dog, and her dog was on the free.”
Hupp said in a brief opposing her release that the judge who first allowed her parole lacked material that “shows the amount of fury and the depth of the savagery of the assault,” as well as the risk to others since Kawaakoa “wildly attacked a dog with a machete.”
According to the memorandum, police then got information from a doctor and medical documents indicating that “while the dog lived, when the dog was hospitalized, it took two physicians working four hours merely to stabilize him.”
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According to the report, his injuries included a portion of his tail being severed, necessitating partial amputation, many gaping wounds on his back that needed to be stitched, and at least four hits to his head, causing his head to split open. As of Sept. 20, the dog called Tommy Boy “may lose eyesight in one eye and is still hospitalized and healing.”
According to the report, the court initially did not have knowledge that “the dog was chained during the attack, and that the defendant continued to hit the dog even while the owner and multiple witnesses sought to stop her.”
According to the letter, “many witnesses said that a lady attempted to stop her by putting herself between the defendant and the dog.” “The woman was dragged out of harm’s way because the defendant continued to swing at the dog while reaching around her.”
According to the report, witnesses who were interrogated stated that Kawaakoa’s dog was not assaulted by Tommy Boy, but that her dog “joined in assaulting Tommy Boy after the defendant had begun beating the helpless dog.”
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Hupp stated in court that having the defendant out of prison to find witnesses was “concerning because the defendant was wielding a machete with bystanders in the way.”
Judge Peter Cahill refused Kawaakoa’s motion for supervised release.
Via: Maui news