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The Hawaii Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of the murder charge against a man who was accused of carrying out the execution-style killing of someone he suspected of squealing on him to police.
A state judge dismissed the murder charge against Patrick Deguair in May 2011 after separate juries deadlocked 6-6 on a verdict. Deguair stood trial twice for the March 2008 murder of Jermaine Duckworth, whose body was found below a cliff near Yokohama Bay with a gunshot in the back of the head.
Circuit Judge Glenn Kim told the state that it had serious problems with its evidence against Deguair, which made it unlikely that it could secure a guilty verdict from a third jury.
The state appealed Kim’s dismissal.
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal in July last year. On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the ICA’s judgment.
Deguair still faces a retrial for allegedly kidnapping Duckworth.
He is already serving two prison terms totaling 60 years.
Following his second murder trial, Deguair was found guilty in an April 2008 robbery of Aiea Cue. The robbery happened one week after Duckworth’s murder. Kim sentenced Deguair to 20 years in prison for kidnapping the four people who were in Aiea Cue during the robbery.
Deguair was also found guilty in a November 2007 armed, home-invasion robbery in Maili for which Duckworth was also charged. Kim handed Deguair a 40-year prison term for robbery and firearm offenses and told Deguair he must first complete his 20 years for the Aiea Cue robbery before he can begin serving the home-invasion sentence.
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