A Fifth Circuit judge Wednesday denied a motion that would have prevented two Hawaiians from continuing to occupy the Coco Palms Resort property, The Garden Island reported.
Noa Mau-Espirito and Charles Hepa claim they own 17 acres of Wailua land via a royal patent. The state maintains they have been trespassing since March 17.
Judge Michael Soong denied the state’s motion to keep Mau-Espirito and Hepa away from the hotel property, which was damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
“I’m not making a determination that anybody is the owner of the property,” Soong said. “What I’m telling the parties is there’s not enough information at this point to make that determination.”
Mau-Espirito, who says he is a descendant of King Kaumualii, and a group of about 25 of his formerly homeless family members, continue to live on Coco Palms property.
Ashley Uyeno-Lee of the prosecutor’s office said tax map keys list the property being owned by Coco Palms Hui LLC. But Soong said tax map keys can be out of date.
“There are transactions that occur that are not updated immediately,” he said. “Title report is normally the most accurate to get title. At least somebody would do an actual title search.”
Soong wants to give the state an opportunity to file a response.
“Because this is a trespass case, in order to determine whether somebody is trespassing, title has to be established,” Soong said.
HAWAII ISLAND
Latino community mourns 2
Hawaii island’s tight Latino community is mourning the loss of two friends and co-workers who died following a two-vehicle crash Wednesday that also killed the driver of the other vehicle and left his female passenger with critical injuries, West Hawaii Today reported.
“The Big Island Latino community is in shock,” said Angela Dean of Comunidad Latina de Hawaii. “Our Latino community is already closely knit, but this tragedy has further united the community.”
She identified the men as Hector Vargas Vigil and Ocdulio Garcia Orellana, who carpooled to work every day.
Dean said they were neighbors in Guatemala and moved to the U.S. together. They lived in Hawaii for three years. She added they were humble, friendly, hardworking and positive, and each had a great sense of humor.
“They were both very well liked by many,” she said. “They both had goals which they wanted to accomplish.”
The collision occurred at 6:26 a.m. Wednesday about a mile north of Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport on Queen Kaahumanu Highway in Kailua-Kona.
Hawaii police said a Toyota 4Runner occupied by two men traveling north collided with a Nissan Titan occupied by a man and woman traveling south. The third victim, a 37-year-old Kamuela man who was driving the Titan, has not been identified.
Both vehicles subsequently burst into flames. All that remained was torched and mangled wreckage, which caused a nearly six-hour road closure and delays for most of the morning throughout West Hawaii.
Police say the driver of the 4Runner was passing several vehicles on the highway.
“As he completed his pass the operator lost control of his vehicle, which caused it to veer into the oncoming lane where it was then involved in a broadside collision with a 2008 Nissan Titan,” police said.
