By JOHN BURNETT
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Trial for an 18-year-old Hilo man accused of making online threats toward security personnel at Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Campus has been put on indefinite hold.
Jury selection had been scheduled to start Monday morning in the case of Jeremy James Costa, but Costa’s attorney, Ivan Van Leer, instead filed a request for an inpatient psychiatric evaluation of his client.
“I’m asking that Mr. Costa be committed to Hawaii State Hospital … or Kahi Mohala for that purpose,” Van Leer told Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura on Monday.
Costa, who was expelled from Kamehameha prior to the alleged threats, is charged with first-degree terroristic threatening for allegedly trying 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 the comment “rent a cops must die.” The posts also referred to the 2007 Virginia Tech campus massacre. Costa was arrested the following morning at the corner of Kilauea Avenue and Haihai Street, allegedly trying to hitch a ride to the Kamehameha campus.
He was present Monday at the court hearing, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg shackles. Costa appears to have lost a considerable amount of weight since his incarceration on June 2 for separate alleged incidents of fourth-degree sex assault and harassment.
Van Leer said he believes Costa is “utterly delusional, substantially delusional” and that in his opinion, a panel of three mental health professionals who found Costa fit to stand trial didn’t have adequate time to obtain “a sufficient understanding of what is driving Mr. Costa.”
“I want a clear diagnosis,” Van Leer said. “… Mr. Costa has six or seven different criminal matters between here and in District Court. In this case, Mr. Costa has been examined. And the variety of reports coming out are remarkable. Dr. (Henry) Yang found him utterly bi-polar. Dr. (Andrew) Bisset found him acting volitionally. Dr. (Samuel) Paltin said he is … either bi-polar or he’s acting volitionally. It’s just too wide a variety of things to get a handle on, and I think this court and the District Court need to know … precisely what is up with him. … And in my opinion, he is delusional. And in my conversations with him about these events (he is) just irrational.”
Deputy Prosecutor Shannon Kagawa, pinch-hitting for Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville, said the state would not object to the defense’s motion to have Costa committed for further evaluation.
“Mr. Damerville does agree that Mr. Costa’s behavior has become increasingly bizarre,” Kagawa said.
Judge Nakamura denied Van Leer’s request, stating he doesn’t know if he has the authority to grant the committal. He told both the prosecution and defense to consult with state Department of Health psychologist Dr. Frederic Manke, who supervises mental health services for East Hawaii courts.
Manke told the Tribune-Herald that he couldn’t recall a defense attorney requesting an inpatient evaluation of a client after a panel of professionals had found the defendant fit to stand trial.
“I’ve heard (lawyers) ask for re-examination and I’ve heard them make arguments … finding fault with a particular examiner, so the exams would have to be done again,” he said. He said in the past, state hospital psychiatrists had made mental evaluations of defendants in criminal trials, but had stopped that practice about a decade ago due to “conflicting roles.”
“They were tasked with curing the patient, that is, establishing a therapeutic relationship, but they were also supposed to provide reports to the court that might have an adverse affect on the client’s freedom for the rest of his life,” Manke said. “I think the courts listened to them, and from that point on … the state designate from the Department of Health and the two community (psychiatrists or psychologists) were the only ones authorized to do those examinations.”
Costa has been arrested numerous times since the alleged Kamehameha threats. The latest allegations against Costa are that he exposed himself and masturbated during a video call to an acquaintance, and then later in the day grabbed and kissed a woman he didn’t know at Prince Kuhio Plaza.
Costa’s next court date in the Kamehameha Schools case is set for Aug. 22 at 8 a.m.
Terroristic threatening is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.