Kauai councilman’s meth ring trial postponed to next year
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Kauai County Councilman Arthur Brun, the accused ringleader of a drug trafficking organization, and 11 other defendants had their trial postponed today.
A U.S. judge today postponed trial for 12 people accused of drug trafficking in Hawaii, over the objections of a councilman accused of leading the ring.
Trial was originally scheduled for October for Arthur Brun, an elected member of the Kauai County Council, and 11 co-defendants. Prosecutors say Brun supplied guns, conspired with a gang leader, requested sexual favors as payment for drugs and assaulted a law enforcement officer.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter said the trial needs to be postponed partly because of constraints on jury trials during the coronavirus pandemic and because federal prosecutors are asking that the case be declared complex.
He tentatively set a new date for Feb. 1.
Brun has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Rustam Barbee, said Brun opposes postponement because he’s being held in the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.
The other defendants didn’t oppose postponing the trial.
