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The Maui News
WAILUKU -- Felony threatening charges have been dismissed against a man who was acquitted of murder in a fatal beating at Maliko Gulch.
The two first-degree terroristic threatening charges against Jesse Hueu were dismissed with prejudice so they can't be brought again, according to an order filed Jan. 16 in 2nd Circuit Court.
Hueu, 48, of Keanae had been charged with threatening 56-year-old Derrick Kualaau and others on Dec. 11, 2014. Later that evening, Kualaau was found dead and lying in a pool of blood on the porch of his one-room shack. He suffered massive internal bleeding in his brain from severe blows that could have been caused by a baseball bat, according to testimony in Hueu's murder trial last year.
Alex Kealoha, who had been incarcerated with Hueu at the Maui Community Correctional Center, testified that Hueu admitted to killing Kualaau after learning Kualaau had hidden Hueu's girlfriend following a fight between them that morning.
On Nov. 30, a jury found Hueu not guilty of second-degree murder.
A trial on the threatening charges was set for this month before the prosecution sought the dismissal "on the grounds that the state cannot proceed."
Deputy Prosecutor Emlyn Higa said Alex Kealoha and Christopher Fanelli, who testified during the murder trial, were essential witnesses in the threatening charges and are no longer available to testify.
Both Kealoha and Fanelli had their probation terms ended early at the prosecution's request, based on fears that their lives were in danger following Hueu's acquittal.
"We don't know where they are, nor are we going to look for them," Higa said.
Hueu is serving a five-year prison term for unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle after violating his probation in a 2009 case.
According to the state Department of Public Safety, Hueu has a scheduled release date of Sept. 18.