Honolulu Prosecutor Drops Surgeon General’s COVID Violation Charge
HPD ticketed the federal official for being in a closed park in violation of the mayor’s order.
Newly elected Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm is moving to dismiss the criminal cases against U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and his aide after Honolulu police cited the men for allegedly violating pandemic rules in August.
Adams and his aide, Dennis Anderson-Villaluz, were among thousands of people ticketed by the Honolulu Police Department for violations of the mayor’s emergency orders.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to pursue the vast majority of those cases. However, under Alm’s predecessor, the office did go forward with the charges against Adams and Anderson-Villaluz.
In a statement, Alm said the case isn’t worth pursuing.
鈥淎 prosecutor鈥檚 paramount goal is to do justice. After a careful review of the facts and law in this case, I have determined that further prosecution of this matter would not achieve that goal,鈥 he said.
鈥淭his office鈥檚 resources are better spent prosecuting other offenses, including serious violations of the Mayor鈥檚 emergency orders that pose a real threat to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Adams and Anderson-Villaluz were in Honolulu to assist the city with a federally funded COVID-19 surge testing effort. During their visit, they allegedly entered Kualoa Regional Park to take photos while the park was closed under the mayor鈥檚 order.
