WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — A judge dismissed a case against a man charged with threatening to kill Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa.
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — A judge dismissed a case against a man charged with threatening to kill Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa.
But prosecutors are expected to refile the terroristic-threatening charge against Austin Gerard Jr.
Gerard, 25, was indicted in 2012 after a woman reported seeing him carrying a knife near the county building June 12 of that year. Police said when she asked him what he was doing with the knife, he told her he was going to “murder the mayor.” The woman called 911.
He was seen in security footage going to the ninth floor to Arakawa’s office, but he left when his secretary said the mayor wasn’t in yet.
Deputy Public Defender William “Pili” McGrath sought to dismiss the case because a trial hadn’t started within six months of the indictment. Judge Rhonda Loo dismissed the charge Wednesday, but she’s allowing prosecutors to pursue it again.