The preliminary hearing for a 20-year-old former Leilehua High School football player accused of trying to kill people with a car will be held in Honolulu District Court on Wednesday.
Malik Morton was charged Saturday with first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree terroristic threatening.
A police affidavit filed in District Court on Monday said Morton drove a car toward a crowd of 30 to 40 people on a street in Ewa Beach last week, critically injuring a woman and also injuring a 17-year-old boy.
A witness told police he saw Morton drive in a zigzag motion as he accelerated toward the crowd, which was beginning to scatter. The witness said he heard numerous bodies colliding with the sides of the car and saw several people get thrown.
The witness said Morton hit 18-year-old Alisha Brown at a high rate of speed, hurling her into the air before she landed on the road. Then the driver fled.
The incident began when Morton and others showed up at a house party and began fighting with others there, the witness said. He said he saw Morton get into the car and begin driving.
In District Court on Monday, Victor Bakke, Morton’s attorney, told reporters that he expects prosecutors will seek an indictment by an Oahu grand jury before Wednesday’s hearing.
Bakke contends the prosecutor’s office is not leaving enough time to interview the many witnesses or to examine the car involved.
“This is a rush to judgment,”
he said.
Bakke also said he will seek to have Morton’s $1 million bail reduced when the case moves to Circuit Court. Morton turned himself in Thursday and remains in custody, unable to post bail.
Brown, a 2015 Campbell High School graduate and currently a student at Chaminade University, is in a coma following the May 19 incident, which unfolded at about 3 a.m. near the intersection of Fort Weaver and Ewa Beach roads.
“This poor girl,” Bakke added. “My client and his family are devastated by this. They are hoping and praying just like everyone else that she recovers.”
