Sex assault charges against a Hilo attorney have been dropped.
According to court documents, Kona Circuit Judge Robert Kim on July 16 dismissed charges of first-, third- and fourth-degree sex assault against Pueo Kaiholenamapunamakai McGuire-Turcotte, also known as Kai McGuire.
The charges are dismissed with prejudice, which means prosecutors cannot refile them.
The motion to dismiss, filed July 13 by county Deputy Prosecutor Kate Perazich, states the request was made “in the interests of justice.”
“I want to sincerely thank my family, friends and colleagues for their unwavering love and support over the past 20 months,” McGuire said in a statement Friday. “I truly hope this case does not discourage actual victims from coming forward and reporting crimes of violence.”
When indicted on Jan. 30, 2020, McGuire, who graduated in 2019 from Willamette University College of Law, had recently been hired as a deputy public defender after serving a year as a law clerk for now-retired Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura.
McGuire is now in private general practice in Hilo as Big Island Lawyer LLC.