A circuit judge has set a trial date 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 appeared at his arraignment before Judge Shirley Kawamura on Thursday at Circuit Court via video link from the Oahu Community Correctional Center on manslaughter and firearm charges involving Shawn Powell’s death.

Honolulu deputy public defender Henry Ting entered a not guilty plea to the charges on Deleon’s behalf. Kawamura set his trial for October.

During the hearing, Ting requested supervised release and, alternatively, a bail reduction to $100,000 from $1 million.

This is the third time Deleon is going to trial in the shooting case.

The deadly shooting occurred during the early-morning hours of July 31, 2009, in a restaurant parking lot, a few hours after an initial confrontation took place at a bar between Deleon, Powell and other men Powell was with.

Deleon was originally convicted in 2010 of second- degree murder, reckless endangering, use of a firearm in commission of a separate felony and other charges. The Hawaii Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2014 after it concluded it was wrong to exclude expert testimony about cocaine in Powell’s system at the time of the shooting.

Another trial was held and Deleon was convicted of manslaughter in 2015, but the high court later reversed the conviction. The Supreme Court ruled the “circuit court erred in finding no factual dispute as to who was the first aggressor.” During trial, Deleon testified Powell had Deleon in a chokehold at a bar while another man struck Deleon.

When the men encountered each other again at the restaurant parking lot hours later, the defense argued Deleon fired warning shots at Powell and other men who approached him. Powell allegedly continued to approach him when Deleon fatally shot Powell when they were at arm’s length of one another.

Deleon served 10 years in prison in the shooting case and was released from prison in November 2019 after the case was dismissed without prejudice, which allows the prosecutor to refile charges. An Oahu grand jury indicted him with manslaughter a day after his release.

At Thursday’s hearing, Honolulu deputy prosecutor Elyse Oyama argued Deleon poses a danger to the community.

Citing the seriousness of the charges, Kawamura denied supervised release but granted a bail reduction to $500,000.