Ex-death row inmate arrested in Hawaii
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A former death row inmate from Delaware who was later exonerated was arrested in Hawaii on prostitution-related charges.
The Delaware State News reports Isaiah Otis Wilmont McCoy was arrested Jan. 3 by Honolulu police. He’s charged with two counts of promoting prostitution and one count of criminal contempt.
A spokesman for federal prosecutors said McCoy was indicted in a separate federal case Jan. 4 and charged with sex trafficking by force. McCoy was ordered kept in custody pending a detention hearing.
McCoy was convicted of shooting a Maryland man in 2010 and initially sentenced to death. He spent nearly seven years in prison before being found not guilty during a second trial.
The name of his attorney could not immediately be determined.
Hawaiian Airlines employee files discrimination suit
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaiian Airlines employee filed a racial harassment and discrimination lawsuit, saying his life was threatened by colleagues who placed a noose and a lynching rope near his locker.
Timothy Degrate said he found the rope next to his locker in August 2016.
Degrate said he felt targeted for being a black man.
“What that means to me, murder, death, intimidation,” Degrate said. “It was just a hostile environment to work in.”
Hawaiian Airlines denied the allegations of workplace violence and said an independent investigation was unable to verify actions described by Degrate.
“Having said that, because Hawaiian Airlines is committed to maintaining a fair and safe work environment, we have taken additional efforts to improve workplace interaction at our Kona station, including mandatory staffwide training on communicating and interacting with respect,” said Ann Botticelli, senior vice president of corporate communications at Hawaiian Airlines
Degrate said co-workers harassed him to the point where he suffered psychological trauma.
Degrate’s attorney, Elizabeth Fujiwara, said that anytime a lynch rope is put in front of a black person it’s considered a death threat.
The employee who uses the neighboring locker is a witness for Degrate.
Degrate has been with Hawaiian Airlines since 2000. He is a lead line service supervisor at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole.
He is seeking damages and attorneys’ fees.