WAILUKU - A 2nd Circuit judge acquitted a 33-year-old former Maui police officer Tuesday of two misdemeanor charges of failing to acquire a firearm permit when the officer accepted two pistols from a Kihei man who wanted to dispose of the guns.
Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over a jury trial since Monday, granted the defense's motion for a judgment of acquittal for Sean Marzoeki, said defense attorney William Sloper outside of court.
Sloper said he made the motion after the prosecution rested its case because the prosecution had produced insufficient evidence.
"We are disappointed that the current administration of the Police Department would unfairly pursue a case against an officer after they have been told by senior officers and senior prosecutors that there is no criminal matter," Sloper said.
According to court records Marzoeki has been terminated from the department.
Maui police did not respond to requests for comment.
Deputy Prosecutor Kenton Werk, who tried the case, referred comment to Maui County Prosecuting Attorney John D. Kim.
Via telephone, Kim said: "It's unfortunate that the original witnesses became unavailable either through death or memory lapses. We could not justify dismissing the case because it was a police officer."
During opening statements Monday afternoon, Werk told jurors that in March 2010 an elderly Kihei couple gave Marzoeki, who was on duty, two guns that they had inherited from a deceased family member.
The couple did not want the guns in their home, he said.
"He took the guns, but he didn't turn them over to the Police Department," Werk said.
The Maui Police Department later launched an investigation and found that Marzoeki had the guns 69 days after he received them, he said.
He added that Marzoeki then turned the guns over to Internal Affairs Detective William Juan, who was tasked with the investigation.
Marzoeki failed to acquire a firearms permit for the weapons and turn them over to police as he is trained to do, the prosecutor said.
According to court records, Marzoeki responded to a call in Kihei on the morning of March 13, 2010, with other officers. A man approached a Maui police officer standing in front of his residence on Eleu Place as officers were investigating a neighbor's home.
The man asked the officer if he could turn in two .22-caliber pistols he and his wife had no use for, according to court records.
The officer told the man to go back into his house and retrieve the pistols. The man returned and turned the guns over to the officer, whom he later identified in a photo lineup as Marzoeki.
Marzoeki placed the pistols on the hood of a police car and two other officers approached and looked at the pistols.
The officers did not ask the man for any information, and the man did not receive a report number of confirmation that he had turned over the two pistols to Maui police officers, records show.
The man assumed everything was taken care of and returned home.
On May 1, 2010, the man's wife called police to inquire about the pistols. She could not provide a report number because her husband did not have one.
Police launched an internal investigation after the department's Records Section was unable to locate any records or documentation of the pistols being turned into the department.
A sergeant and a lieutenant later told internal affairs investigators that Marzoeki had the guns, records show.
Marzoeki came to the Wailuku Station and turned over the guns.
In June 2011, Marzoeki of Kahului was arrested on a 2nd Circuit Court warrant for the incident. He was charged with two counts of first-degree theft and two counts of failure to acquire a firearm permit.
He turned himself in to the Wailuku Police Station and was released after posting $5,000 bail.
At the time, he was put on restricted duty, police said. Marzoeki has been with MPD since Aug. 27, 2001.
On Feb. 28, during a hearing before 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza, the two first-degree theft charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought back on the matter.
On May 1, 2010, the man's wife called police to inquire about the pistols. She could not provide a report number because her husband did not have one.
Police launched an internal investigation after the department's Records Section was unable to locate any records or documentation of the pistols being turned into the department.
A sergeant and a lieutenant later told internal affairs investigators that Marzoeki had the guns, records show.
Marzoeki came to the Wailuku Station and turned over the guns.
In June 2011, Marzoeki of Kahului was arrested on a 2nd Circuit Court warrant for the incident. He was charged with two counts of first-degree theft and two counts of failure to acquire a firearm permit.
He turned himself in to the Wailuku Police Station and was released after posting $5,000 bail.
At the time, he was put on restricted duty, police said. Marzoeki has been with MPD since Aug. 27, 2001.
On Feb. 28, during a hearing before 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza, the two first-degree theft charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought back on the matter.
