Joel White to get new trial in attempted murder conviction

A Waimea man convicted of attempted murder will receive a new trial.

Joel White — found guilty in early May in an attack that left Jeremy Nicholas with several stab wounds in his back — will have a retrial on Sept. 15.

Third Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra granted the retrial following a May 29 hearing in which White’s attorneys argued that the court erred in not instructing the jury on extreme mental or emotional disturbance as a possible factor in the incident last April, and the possibility of considering the lesser charge of attempted manslaughter.

The EMED defense has been used to reduce murder cases to manslaughter on the grounds of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is a reasonable explanation.

Prosecutors have appealed the decision to set aside the May 7 conviction. “Speaking personally, I think it’s the wrong decision. We’ll see what the appellate court says,” said Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville.

During a week of testimony before Ibarra, witnesses said Nicholas was stabbed five times in the back in Nicholas’ Waikoloa home last April and received a cut to his throat. White’s attorney William Harrison said he acted in self-defense. He was scheduled to be sentenced June 25.

According to court documents, neither party asked for the jury to consider EMED, and prosecutors claim that no evidence of EMED was given at the trial. In a May 14 motion for a retrial, however, Harrison said the judge should have given the instruction on EMED to the jury anyway. Citing a recent state Supreme Court ruling, State v. Adviento, the “trial court is obligated to give instruction on EMED even if the defendant has chosen to waive the defense as part of trial strategy,” Harrison argued.