By JOHN BURNETT
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The lawyer for an 18-year-old Hilo man accused of making online threats against security personnel at Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii Campus last October wants an inpatient mental examination of his client.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura is scheduled to hear the request by Ivan Van Leer, attorney for Jeremy James Costa, Monday morning at 9 a.m. A court-appointed panel of mental health professionals have found Costa fit to stand trial.
“I’m not convinced that the examinations of Mr. Costa in the regular course have been sufficient,” Van Leer said Friday. “…They made a diagnosis that he is essentially fit to proceed and I am not certain of that diagnosis, so I wish it checked. … I believe he needs to be analyzed more closely and scrutinized more closely. I don’t believe these doctors are granted sufficient time to make an appropriate diagnosis.”
Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville said the state would “probably not” oppose Van Leer’s request for inpatient analysis.
Costa, who was expelled from Kamehameha, is charged with first-degree terroristic threatening allegedly tried to enter the school’s Keaau campus twice in October. On Oct. 24, he was reportedly intercepted by security and turned away. That night, he allegedly posted threats on Facebook aimed at school security, including “rent a cops must die.” The posts also referred to the 2007 Virginia Tech campus massacre.
Costa was also arrested the following morning at the corner of Kilauea Avenue and Haihai Street and charged with first-degree terroristic threatening. Police said he was trying to hitchhike to the private school’s campus, wearing a school uniform shirt and carrying books. When confronted, Costa allegedly tore off the shirt and challenged officers to a fight.
Kamehameha Schools has been granted an injunction to keep Costa away from the campus and from school functions on- or off-campus.
Costa enrolled at Waiakea High School after his expulsion from Kamehameha, but did not graduate with his fellow seniors this year, a school administrator said.
Costa has been arrested numerous times since. In January, a complaint was filed accusing him of domestic abuse. According to a court document, the victim is his 68-year-old father, James Costa. Van Leer also requested a mental evaluation in that case. Van Leer said that Family Judge Anthony Bartholomew granted a postponement until next month in that case because one of the evaluators “did not have sufficient time” to turn in his report to the court.
Then in February, Costa was charged with first- and second-degree terroristic threatening, harassment and attempted criminal property damage. According to court documents, the targets of the alleged threats were police Capt. Randall Medeiros, the former commander of the Criminal Investigation Division who’s now in charge of departmental training, and Officer Gabriel Wilson, a Hilo patrolman.
First-degree terroristic threatening is a felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment.
Costa was also arrested on June 2 and charged with fourth-degree sex assault and harassment for two separate alleged incidents on that day.
According to a court document, the alleged sex assault victim, an 18-year-old Waimea man, answered a FaceTime video call on an acquaintance’s phone at about 9:39 that morning. The man told police when he answered the call, he saw Costa “masturbating and exposing his genitals….” The man told police he had gone to school with Costa and recognized his face on the video call. The document said the phone number “was saved and recognized” as Costa’s.
In the second incident, a 44-year-old Hawaiian Paradise Park woman told police she was sitting at a table in a common area in Prince Kuhio Plaza with her 7-year-old daughter at about 4:40 p.m. when Costa allegedly sat down at their table and told the woman “he wanted to give her a massage and shower with her,” a court document stated. When the woman attempted to leave, Costa allegedly “then hugged her and kissed her 3 times in her left cheek area without her permission.”
Fourth-degree sex assault is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, while harassment is a petty misdemeanor carrying a potential 30-day jail term.
As of Friday, Costa remained in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1,250 bail.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.