HONOLULU (KHON2) — Details on Saturdayʻs shooting in Waianae are still under investigation but what would need to be done to prove the shooting was in self defense?
We spoke to a couple attorneys for general information. They said it is allowed in Hawaii, under very specific circumstances.
“In Hawaii, a person is allowed to use proportional amounts of force to defend themselves,” said Victor Bakke, defense attorney. “And what that means is that you cannot bring a gun to a knife fight, is the old saying.”
Attorneys say there’s a multitude of things that investigators would look at. An important one – what was the person’s state of mind at the time?
“So that’s where the police will most likely be interviewing a lot of witnesses, speaking to a lot of people who were at the scene, trying to get as many circumstances as they can that were going on during that time in order to be able to get some clues,” said attorney Doug Chin.
Also, who is the one provoking the situation? Was it necessary to use deadly force? Or were there alternatives?
And timing is key.
“An example would be if you got into a fight on the corner and then the person ran away into the alley, the other person doesn’t get to chase them down and continue to assault them or even kill them on the basis that they originally were acting in self-defense,” said Bakke.
In the Waianae situation, because people died, attorneys say police have to arrest any suspects. They can be held up to 48 hours. In this case, the suspect was released pending investigation.
Attorneys said after police investigate, it’s at their discretion to push the case to prosecutors. Then, it’s up to prosecutors to move forward with charges and trial. And because there is no statute of limitations on murder, that process could be long. Months, maybe years.
“Our legal system has a lot of gates that need to be followed through before you actually formally charge somebody with a murder or something very serious like this,” said Chin.