Self-Defense Shooting Reignites Stand-Your-Ground Debate In Hawaii

A particularly brutal attack at a party in a Waianae, Hawaii, neighborhood has at least one lawmaker in the Aloha State considering reintroducing a Stand-Your-Ground proposal when the state legislature reconvenes next year.

On August 31, party goers were enjoying themselves until a neighbor rammed his tractor into several vehicles at the house and then started shooting. According to local police, three women—Courtney Raymond-Arakaki, 34, Jessyca Amasiu, 29, and Cherell Keamo, 36—were killed by 59-year-old Hiram Silva before one of the home’s residents, Rishard Carnate, retrieved his gun and shot Silva, killing him on the spot.

Carnate was arrested on suspicion of second degree murder but was later released pending results of the ongoing investigation. But the resident’s arrest after the apparently cut-and-dried self-defense shooting didn’t set well with one state lawmaker.

Democrat State Rep. Darius Kila was deeply concerned with the shooting and the aftermath, and wants to see legislation ensuring that homeowners “can defend their loved ones and don’t have to worry about some form of legal repercussion.”

“This is happening in our backyard,” Kila told CivilBeat.com. “It doesn’t mean it can’t happen in your backyard tomorrow.”

Kila, along with some other pro-self-defense lawmakers, is expected to introduce legislation early next year that clarifies that Hawaii residents do not have to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense if they are in their home or on their own property. A similar Stand-Your-Ground measure proposed earlier this year failed to advance after never receiving a committee hearing.

According to state law, the use of force is justifiable when someone believes it “is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by the other person.” The statute also states that deadly force is not justified if it can be avoided “with complete safety by retreating or by surrendering possession of a thing to a person asserting a claim of right thereto.”

That’s the portions of the current law that have Kila and other lawmakers concerned. And they want to take Hawaii out of the list of 21 states that currently don’t have a Stand-Your-Ground law on the books.

A measure introduced by Kila and other lawmakers last year, House Bill 86, would have revised the law to stipulate that anyone who uses deadly force in self-defense does not have a duty to retreat if they are in their dwelling or on their property.

“The Legislature finds that the people of Hawaii have a fundamental right to be safe in their homes,” the measure stated. “However, the recent rise in violent crimes is threatening the public’s sense of security.”

The measure further specified: “An actor who uses deadly force in accordance with this subsection shall not have a duty to retreat under subsection (5) if the actor using deadly force is in the actor’s dwelling or on the actor’s property, unless the actor was the initial aggressor.”

In the end, Kila admits that the proposed law can be somewhat divisive, but he thinks it’s important enough that such a measure should be considered next session.

“Ultimately it’s tough, because I can point to probably several hundred people in everybody’s district that would support a measure like this,” he said. “I don’t want to make it a red or blue issue, but obviously this is sometimes an issue.”