Hawaii
No timeline for Hawaii Supreme Court to rule on evidence in Dana Ireland murder case
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – There is no set schedule for when the Hawaii Supreme Court will decide if newly acquired evidence in the 1991 Dana Ireland murder case should be turned over to the Hawaii Innocence Project.
The state’s high court could take up to a year to issue a ruling, but Brian Black, executive director of the Public First Law Center, said the events have been moving at a faster pace than usual.
“If they agreed on what the outcome could be, they could enter an order that says, courts do this and we’ll give you a better explanation at a later date,” Black said.
“It’s always going to take time for that final opinion to come out and really explain their rationale.”
The delays have been devastating for Albert Ian Schweitzer, whose conviction was vacated last year after he had already spent 23 years in prison for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Ireland.
In order to collect money for the wrongful conviction, $50,000 for every year in prison, HIP said he needs to be declared innocent by a lower court judge.
The legal team believes the investigative file on newly identified suspect, Albert Lauro, Jr., will move that process forward.
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Circuit Court judge Peter Kubota ordered the evidence to be turned over to HIP in August, but Hawaii County police and prosecutors objected then appealed to the high court.
Meanwhile, Schweitzer said it’s been a struggle financially. He had no job training for the past two decades and prison has taken a toll.
“He was in his 20s when he went in, he’s now in his 50s,” said Ken Lawson, of the Hawaii Innocence Project.
Lawson said people who are guilty and released on parole are provided services to help them transition back into society but when you are innocent, you get released with none of those benefits.
Schweitzer’s brother Shawn was also wrongfully convicted of the crime but didn’t spend much time behind bars. Still, he lived with the stigma from the high profile case.
Attorneys for the county told the justices that the evidence against Lauro, who killed himself in July, needs to be kept secret because the Ireland murder case is still under investigation.
The prosecutor’s office said the Schweitzers are still considered suspects in the Ireland case, despite DNA and other evidence that point away from the brothers.
Lawson said he understands why the justices need time to rule, but hopes it won’t take as long as other cases.
“Our clients understand that the court is going to take some time to really clarify the law in this area which needs to be clarified, especially on the actual innocence statute.”
Black agreed that this decision could lay the foundation for other cases of innocence as people try to get compensation for wrongful convictions.
“There is a very interesting question as to how exactly these types of proceedings for actual innocence should move forward, and it seems like the court is going to have to grapple with that,” said Black.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now
Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| North Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| East Facing | 3-5 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 5-7 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||
| Winds | East winds 5 to 10 mph. | ||||||
|
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| Weather | Partly sunny. Numerous showers. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the upper 70s. | |||||
| Winds | East winds 10 to 15 mph. | |||||
|
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| Sunrise | 6:37 AM HST. | |||||
| Sunset | 6:27 PM HST. | |||||
Forecast for Big Island Leeward
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| West Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-3 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly cloudy. Hazy. |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||||||
| Winds | West winds around 5 mph early in the afternoon, becoming light and variable. |
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|
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| Weather | Partly sunny. Hazy. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the mid 80s. | ||||||||
| Winds | Light and variable winds, becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. |
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| Sunrise | 6:41 AM HST. | ||||||||
| Sunset | 6:31 PM HST. | ||||||||
The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.
NORTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.
NORTH WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.
WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.
SOUTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com
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