Second attempt to consolidate trials for brothers accused of murder denied

KEALAKEKUA — A Kona Circuit Court judge on Tuesday denied a prosecuting attorney’s second attempt at consolidating trials of two brothers facing murder and conspiracy charges.

Marlon and Eber Miranda-Garcia appeared before Judge Melvin Fujino, who denied the request during a lengthy hearing that also included the consideration of a number of other motions including determining voluntariness of Marlon Miranda-Garcia’s statements, suppressing his statements and continuing trial and pretrial deadlines.

The motions were similar to those presented during a hearing for Eber Miranda-Garcia, who appeared before Judge Harry P. Freitas last week.

The men are charged in the murder of Dolores Borja-Valle, who was found dead Aug. 9, 2015, in a Captain Cook coffee field.

After Fujino denied a request by the defense attorneys to have the brothers unshackled during the hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Sheri Lawson called various police officers to the stand, including Walter Ah Mow, a former detective for Hawaii Police Department, who was lead investigator on Borja-Valle’s case; officer Tyler Jelsma, who was assigned to scene security Aug. 10, 2015, at Borja-Valle’s home; detective Carrie Akina, who interviewed Marlon Miranda-Garcia in August 2015 at the Kealakehe police station; and Community Policing officer Reuben Pukahi, who assisted in the translation during Akina’s interview with Marlon Miranda-Garcia.

Ah Mow, who testified during a hearing for Eber Miranda-Garcia last week, again went through the details of the crime — how Borja-Valle was found, when police came into contact with the brothers and how the brothers eventually were arrested and charged.

After Ah Mow’s testimony, Lawson again made her case for consolidating the trials, saying they are based on extremely similar evidence.

“The issue is prejudice,” she said. “No one is pointing the finger at each other, so where’s the prejudice?”

Marlon Miranda-Garcia’s attorney, Wendy DeWeese, disagreed. She listed a number of ways how there is prejudice in the case and how there is evidence that could clearly be used against her client.

“We believe we have shown prejudice and it would be an unfair trial,” DeWeese said.

After hearing arguments, Fujino denied Lawson’s second request to consolidate the cases. At that point, Eber Miranda-Garcia was dismissed from the courtroom.

Jelsma and Akina then took the stand relative to motions to determine voluntariness of statements and to suppress statements made by Marlon Miranda-Garia.

Jelsma testified about his interaction with Marlon Miranda-Garcia when the investigation began in August 2015. He told the court he asked the 24-year-old his name and what he was doing at the property. He recalled a language barrier.

At the time, Jelsma said, he had no reason to think Marlon Miranda-Garcia was involved in Borja-Valle’s death.

Akina told the court about her interview with Marlon Miranda-Garcia, whom she said he came to the Kealakehe police station voluntarily.

In her report, Akina noted Marlon Miranda-Garcia seemed nervous.

DeWeese asked Akina if she questioned other people and where she did those interviews. Akina said all of the other interviews were conducted in the field.

Lawson clarified with Akina that Marlon Miranda-Garcia was not a suspect at that time.

The last person to take the stand was Pukahi. Upon questioning by DeWeese, Pukahi confirmed he had trouble translating the consent to search form to Marlon Miranda-Garcia and that he had trouble communicating with the man during the interview.

Fujino will render a decision on the additional motions by Nov. 30 after both sides submit proposed findings of fact and conclusion of law.

DeWeese also requested to continue her client’s trial, which was granted. Fujino set a new trial date of April 17, 2018. Last week, Eber Miranda-Garcia’s trial date was continued to May 8.

Email Tiffany DeMasters at tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com.