SUSPENDED Department of Public Safety Police Officer Troy Manahane has asked the Superior Court to dismiss the refiled information in Criminal Case No. 25-0011 charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon.
In a 23-page motion, Manahane, through his court-appointed attorney Robert T. Torres, said the court “should dismiss without prejudice but direct the Government to file a Supplemental Declaration of Probable Cause in DPS Case No. 24-0005000 and seek leave of court before re-filing the already dismissed charge of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. If the Court finds that the Government’s actions amount to bad faith conduct to subvert the integrity of the court’s authority, it should be dismissed with prejudice.”
In the alternative, Torres said the court should “remand the Recharged Information, absent any Supplemental Declaration by a sworn DPS Officer, to Judge Joseph N. Camacho for redetermination at a preliminary hearing.”
Manahane, who will be 29 in April, was accused of pointing and using his service firearm to assault a suspect in a domestic incident on Jan. 21, 2024.
Initially, Manahane was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, and disturbing the peace in Criminal Case 24-0097.
But at a preliminary hearing in October 2024, Judge Camacho found no probable cause to charge Manahane with assault with a dangerous weapon and only found probable cause as to the disturbing the peace charge in CR 24-0097.
According to Torres, both cases, CR 25-0011 and CR 24-0097, “are grounded in the originating Declaration of Probable Cause by DPS Sergeant Jeffrey Norita in DPS No. 24-000500.”
He said the recharged information is unsupported by any new declaration and “constitutes the government’s untoward effort to do an ‘end run’ of the court’s probable cause declaration.”
Torres said Manahane “moves the court to Dismiss the Recharged Information in Criminal Case No. 25-0011 or, in the alternative, remand the Recharged Information to Associate Judge Camacho for the Government to proffer testimony or evidence beyond that which the Court had already considered at the Preliminary Hearing on October 30, 2024.”
Manahane remains released to a third-party custodian but must observe a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. He is no longer under house arrest nor required to be with his third-party custodian at all times.
A motion hearing will be held before Judge Lillian A. Tenorio on April 17, 2025 at 9 a.m.
The complaint
According to the complaint against Manahane, he responded to a domestic incident on Jan. 21, 2024 in Susupe with another police officer, Keanu Hosono.
The suspect, Sheldon Kainoa, told police that he had a verbal dispute with his girlfriend and did not want their argument to escalate and chose to leave their apartment until his girlfriend calmed down.
He said he was standing outside the apartment when he saw a police car rushing and pulling up to the parking lot. To evade the officers, Kainoa said he ran to the second floor and jumped out of a window.
Later, Kainoa was apprehended by Hosono and was instructed to sit. Manahane then approached Kainoa and instructed him to discard a pen he was holding and told him to get in the back seat of the marked police car.
Kainoa stated that he was in the back seat when he saw Manahane unbuckling his police belt and brandishing a gun.
Kainoa said Manahane pointed the gun at him and asked, “What would you do if my partner shot you?”
When interviewed by an internal affairs investigator, Manahane denied threatening Kainoa with his gun.
Hosono, for his part, said he didn’t mention that Manahane pointed a gun at a civilian because it “freaked” him out.
Hosono said he also feared being labeled a snitch and ridiculed by other officers for reporting a misconduct.
