Life imprisonment sentence upheld for 2018 homicide
LĪHU‘E – On Wednesday, Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Like announced that the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, in a 5-0 decision, reversed the ruling of the Intermediate Court of Appeals overturning Peter Grewer’s conviction.
On June 18, 2018, Peter Grewer stabbed his 67-year old wheelchair-bound landlord, Joellen Hartman, to death. She was found dead in her home in Koloa after being stabbed 17 times. Due to the heinous and cruel nature of the crime as well as Ms. Hartman’s advanced age, the State sought extended and enhanced sentencing.
Following lengthy pretrial discovery, multiple defense motions to suppress, and pandemic-related delays, Grewer’s trial began in April of 2021. During the trial, the State introduced an overwhelming amount of evidence to show that Grewer killed Ms. Hartman, including testimony from 23 witnesses, circumstantial evidence and forensic DNA evidence found on Grewer’s bloodied clothing and underneath the fingernails of Ms. Hartman. Evidence also showed that Grewer, who had been Ms. Hartman’s tenant at an ohana unit on her property, was evicted on June 18, 2018, the day of Ms. Hartman’s brutal murder. Grewer was convicted after a jury trial of Murder in the Second Degree and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Grewer appealed his conviction based on comments made by a potential juror about wanting to be excused from jury duty. The court was made aware of the comments, all potential jurors who heard the comments were interviewed by the Judge and the potential juror was excused from jury duty. Further, the Judge reminded all potential jurors to disregard all statements about the case from prospective jurors.
Grewer argued that those comments violated his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury. The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, agreed that Grewer’s right to a fair trial was violated and overturned his murder conviction, sending it back to the Circuit Court for a new trial.
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney petitioned the Hawaii Supreme Court to hear the case. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tracy Murakami handled the petition. The opinion of the Hawaii Supreme Court was issued today finding that the investigation into the juror’s comments by the Circuit Court was adequate; that the instructions given to the jury were sufficient to address any prejudice that could have arisen from the potential juror’s comments and that any prejudice caused by the comments was harmless in light of the overwhelming, uncontradicted physical evidence of Grewer’s guilt. The Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed the Circuit Court Conviction and Sentence.
After the jury found Grewer guilty, the prosecution sought and received an extended sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He has been in the custody of KPD or the Hawai‘i Department of Public Safety since June 19, 2018.
The investigation was handled by Detectives Chris Calio and Darren Rose with support from Officer Jonathan Bonachita. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Arakawa and former Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kimberly Torigoe Metcalfe litigated the trial on behalf of the State of Hawai‘i.
Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Like stated, “Our Office, with our law enforcement partners, celebrate today’s Hawaii Supreme Court decision reversing the ICA and restoring Grewer’s conviction in this heinous, premeditated, callous murder of a vulnerable Kauai resident. We are grateful to the many individuals who worked tirelessly on this case and we hope this decision provides some solace to the victim’s friends and family. We are relieved that this Defendant will never walk the streets again.”
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