Man slated to be arraigned today in manslaughter case

An arraignment is scheduled to be held at Circuit Court today for a 44-year-old man accused of manslaughter in the 2009 shooting death of a 35-year-old man in the Keeaumoku area.

Phillip D. Deleon is in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bail in connection with Shawn Powell’s death. Police arrested Deleon at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on July 30 on a grand jury bench warrant, eight months after the jury returned an indictment against him, charging him with manslaughter in Powell’s death.

The shooting occurred on July 31, 2009, in a restaurant parking lot in the Keeaumoku area, a few hours after an initial confrontation took place at a bar between Deleon, Powell and other men Powell was with hours earlier.

Manslaughter is a Class A felony that is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Deleon’s arraignment comes after the Hawaii Supreme Court reversed the 2015 manslaughter conviction against him. According to the Supreme Court opinion, the “circuit court erred in finding no factual dispute as to who was the first aggressor.” During trial, Deleon testified another man who Powell was with at the bar struck him while Powell had Deleon in a chokehold.

Later in the restaurant parking lot, Deleon and the men encountered each other again. During trial, the defense argued Deleon fired warning shots as Powell and about four other men approached him. Court records show Powell allegedly continued to approach Deleon when Deleon fatally shot Powell when they were at arm’s length of one another.

A Circuit Court judge originally convicted Deleon in 2010 of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a separate felony, reckless endangering and other charges in the deadly shooting. The Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction in 2014 and ordered a new trial after the high court concluded jurors weren’t allowed to hear testimony that Powell had cocaine in his system at the time of the shooting. The ruling said it was wrong to exclude expert testimony about cocaine in Powell’s blood.

In 2015, Deleon was convicted of manslaughter. The Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld the Circuit Court’s decision but the high court later reversed the appellate court’s judgment and sent the case back to Circuit Court.

Deleon served 10 years in prison in the shooting case and was released in November 2019 due to dismissal of the case, according to the state Department of Public Safety.

Court records show an Oahu grand jury indicted him on manslaughter charges in Powell’s death a day after his release.