One of three defendants accused of starving a 9-year-old Hilo girl to death more than four years ago has a trial date, but with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, that date has to be considered tentative at best.
Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto on Monday set trial for Tiffany Stone for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 8.
Stone, 36, is the mother of Shaelynn Lehano-Stone, and faces a second-degree murder charge for the girl’s death on June 28, 2016. Also accused of second-degree murder are the girl’s 53-year-old father, Kevin Lehano, and 62-year-old maternal grandmother, Henrietta Stone.
Nakamoto set the trial after denying a motion by Tiffany Stone’s court-appointed attorney, Melody Parker, to dismiss the charge against her client for alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
Parker argued each defendant should have been presented to the grand jury separately and that grand jurors were unfairly prejudiced by bad acts allegedly committed by Lehano and Henrietta Stone.
Also alleged was that the now-retired deputy prosecutor who presented the case to the grand jury, Rick Damerville, deliberately relied on “significant hearsay” during grand jury proceedings.
Nakamoto said evidence heard by the grand jury argued as prejudicial by the defense “goes to elements of this charge, specifically state of mind.” The judge found the evidentiary value of the testimony as “outweighing the prejudicial effect.”
Although Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald has set a date of Sept. 1 for the resumption of jury trials, it is unclear whether that will occur or what accommodations will be made for social distancing of juries, or whether the public will be allowed, as required by law.
“We’re working statewide, and specifically in our circuit to get … procedure that not only has to be approved within the Judiciary, but also by the Department of Health,” Nakamoto said.
Henrietta Stone is undergoing a court-ordered mental examination and has a hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 18 before Kubota. Reports from the three examiners are due to the judge by Sept. 11.
Lehano, who has been found fit for trial but doesn’t have one scheduled, is due in court for further proceedings at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 28.
All three remain in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center on $100,000 bail each.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.