Dana Ireland Case: Police Don’t Have To Release Records About New Suspect
But the state Supreme Court said two men exonerated in the 1991 murder can move forward with wrongful conviction compensation claims.
The Hawaii Police Department does not have to turn over evidence related to a new suspect in the 1991 murder of Dana Ireland to attorneys representing two men exonerated in the case, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Albert Ian Schweitzer and Shawn Schweitzer were convicted of Ireland’s murder in 2000 but had their convictions overturned last year after new DNA analysis excluded them as sources of semen found on the young woman鈥檚 body.
Attorneys for the brothers sought records related to an investigation into a new murder suspect as part of efforts to have the Schweitzers declared “actually innocent” to pave the way for wrongful conviction compensation claims.
However, the high court said the Schweitzers do not need to be declared “actually innocent” before claiming compensation. It cited “significant procedural missteps” by the circuit court and said the petition should be transferred to a new civil case.
Keith Shigetomi, who is representing Shawn Schweitzer, said the petition was before Judge Peter Kubota in the 3rd Circuit Court in Hilo but would be transferred to a new civil case next month following the Supreme Court decision.
The records requested include a recording of an hourlong conversation detectives had with the man recently identified through DNA testing as a new murder suspect, Albert Lauro Jr. Lauro killed himself shortly after detectives questioned him on July 19.
The Schweitzers can seek $50,000 per year they spent incarcerated and may be eligible for an due to 鈥渆xtraordinary circumstances,” according to the law.
Albert Ian Schweitzer spent 25 years in prison before his conviction was overturned in January 2023. His brother Shawn Schweitzer took a plea deal in 2000 to avoid prison time but had been held without bail for around two years before that, according to Ken Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project, which is representing the brothers along with the New York Innocence Project.
Lawson said the Hawaii Innocence Project will continue to seek release of the police investigation records in an effort to provide closure to the case and further exonerate the Schweitzers in the eyes of the public.聽
鈥淥ne thing that (the Schweitzers) want is for the public to know that they did not do this,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t should be clear to everybody. This won鈥檛 end the fight to have all those records released.鈥
The Schweitzers’ attorneys say the brothers had nothing to do with the rape and murder of 23-year-old Ireland, who was found nearly dead on a fishing trail in Puna on Christmas Eve 1991.
State prosecutors, though, maintain that the Schweitzers could face new charges even though their convictions were overturned because the cases were dismissed without prejudice.
Hawaii Innocence Project attorneys believe the records would help further exonerate their clients by potentially providing more evidence pointing to Lauro as the suspect and showing he acted alone.
Hawaii police Chief Ben Moszkowicz said in a statement Thursday that he is open to sharing information about the department’s investigation into Lauro, though he did not specify a timeline for when that might happen.
As the Schweitzers’ compensation claim “plays out in civil court, it is my sincere hope that we will be able to share more information with the parties as our investigation into Dana Ireland鈥檚 murder moves forward,鈥 the statement said.
Special Assistant to the Attorney General Dave Day said in a statement the Attorney General’s Office was not a party to the proceeding but it was analyzing the Supreme Court’s opinion.
The police department has been resistant to releasing any records, citing fears that it could compromise their ongoing investigation.
During a hearing before the Supreme Court on Sept. 13, deputy corporation counsel for Hawaii County, Britt Bailey, said detectives were still interviewing witnesses, including Lauro鈥檚 wife, and analyzing the contents of his cellphone.
Police said despite Lauro being a match for the DNA found on Ireland, they lacked probable cause to arrest him for her murder. The Innocence Project says police did have probable cause and should not have let Lauro go.
