Public safety director apologizes for mistaken release of murder suspect

The head of the state Department of Public Safety profusely apologized Friday for the erroneous release earlier this week of a murder suspect from the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo.

“We express our deepest regret for this error,” said Director Nolan Espinda at a news conference at the director’s office in Honolulu. “I ask that the Hawaii community not only accept our apology, but the fact that we will work diligently towards assuring that something like this does not repeat itself in the future.”

The Public Safety Department has launched an investigation into Tuesday’s release of Brian Lee Smith, 49, who was indicted on murder charges in the June 23 death of Thomas Ballesteros Jr. on Painted Church Road in South Kona. Another man sustained non-life-threatening gunshot injuries at the scene.

Smith turned himself in to police Thursday night after the Public Safety Department issued a media alert at about 2:30 p.m. that informed the public of his erroneous release. Hours later, at about 11 p.m., Smith called police dispatch from a business in the Captain Cook area and told them he wanted to turn himself in.

He appeared Friday at 3rd Circuit Court where Judge Melvin Fujino set his bail at $2 million.

Before the erroneous release, Smith was being held in lieu of $1.15 million bail on charges of second-degree murder, attempted second-­degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and four counts of illegal possession of a firearm.

Espinda said correctional staff did not realize Smith’s release was an error until the Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office contacted the warden at about 8:40 a.m. Thursday. “The staff enacting the release on behalf of the Department of Public Safety believed they had done so correctly. The error was not pointed out until (Thursday) morning.”

Espinda was notified of the error just before 11:30 a.m. that day. The Public Safety Department issued a media alert three hours later seeking the public’s help in locating Smith. The court also issued a $2 million bench warrant against Smith after he failed to appear at a status hearing.

When asked about the roughly three-hour lag from the time Espinda was notified of the error to the issuance of the media alert, Espinda said it took them a while to review the circumstances with the prosecutor’s office and the correctional staff of what happened.

“We did our due diligence. We worked very hard. Our primary responsibility and concern was notifying the public of the erroneous release of this individual, and we did what we did when we did it,” he said.

He declined to provide details on what exactly led to Smith’s erroneous release, as it is part of the investigation. “There were documents that held him in jail. There were documents that establishes bail. … The interpretation of those documents and what was on hand is what was evaluated and led to the error that occurred on Tuesday,” Espinda said.

“We will be reviewing the pretrial hold procedures to ascertain what happened and at what point in the process things went wrong so we can ensure corrective measures needed are put in place,” he added.

In a statement Thursday, Gov. David Ige said he was “upset and deeply concerned” about the erroneous release.

“Residents of Hawai’i island have had to deal with the lava emergency and the recent murder of a police officer, and I know this news is another blow,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who is running for governor against Ige, said in a statement, “Once again the Ige administration has shown a lack of urgency and total disregard for the public’s right to know. A murder suspect was mistakenly released and it was two days before the public was notified. Like the 38 minutes to cancel the false missile alert and the more than eight hours it took to alert authorities of a psychopathic killer’s escape from the state hospital, this latest incident highlights this administration’s reluctance to communicate with the public on matters of public safety.”