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Prison gang documents found at Honolulu restaurant

STAR-ADVERTISER FILE
Halawa Correctional Facility

A day after a binder containing sensitive court documents for a prison gang trial was found at a downtown restaurant, the attorney who owns the binder said someone stole it from him at the federal courthouse.

Defense attorney Marcus Sierra visited the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday after the restaurant turned over the 2-inch binder. He said it contained his cross-examination notes of prosecution witnesses, grand jury transcripts and a handwritten witness list that he had asked his client, Tineimalo Adkins, to write up.

“Somebody took my binder without my knowledge,” he said. “They, for some reason, were reading it in a place that I haven’t eaten for months.”

Sierra said he didn’t have any idea why someone would take the binder, which he said contained information that had already come out in trial.

Adkins was found guilty Friday of leading a brutal assault by USO Family prison gang members on a fellow inmate at Halawa Correctional Facility.

The court previously issued a protective order that said attorneys can show copies of witness material to their clients, but cannot give their clients copies.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake filed a motion Tuesday about the binder, saying witnesses testified during the trial about their fear of retaliation by USO Family members.

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