Trial continues for man who wants to plead guilty to murder in Hawaii’s Loa Ridge

LEILA FUJIMORI / LFUJIMORI @STARADVERTISER.COM Juan Baron, left, testifies Friday at a hearing on his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. A Spanish translator was sitting with him.

A 25-year-old Colombian man who is trying to plead guilty to murdering Gary Ruby, 73, in 2022 and stealing his Loa Ridge home, car and ID, testified Friday about why he hired his mother attorney Miles Breiner will represent him.

Assistant District Attorney Scott Bell questioned Juan Baron about whether Breiner and associate Kyle Dowd told him they were hired to try to cover up the confession he gave to Los Angeles police detectives on March 10, 2022.

Through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, Baron said that was part of the reason they were hired.

“Isn’t that true, this was an attempt to negotiate a plea deal for you in this case?” Bell asked.

The baron replied, “No, it was not a final decision.”

“Isn’t it true that they told you they were never hired to actually take the case to court?” Bell asked.

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The baron said, “No.”

Baron’s court-appointed attorney, Randall Hironaka, took over the case after Breiner recused himself from counsel. Hironaka filed a motion with Judge Catherine Remigio to withdraw Baron’s guilty plea on the day he was scheduled to be sentenced. However, that hearing had to be extended to October 7 because the interpreter used that day was a potential witness in the case. Then, on October 7, the hearing had to be extended until Friday, as time ran out.

The hearing had to be resumed on Friday after Hironaka raised questions about possible breaches of attorney-client privilege that Breiner’s office leaked to the state.

According to the judge, this would be a violation of the court order.

Hironaka said during Friday’s hearing that a copy of the Oct. 17, 2023, plea letter from Brainer to the state that Bell used as evidence was not the one he sent to Deputy District Attorney Ailee Weiss.

Weiss requested a copy of the letter at the Oct. 7 hearing, and Hironaka said he would comply. Weiss was not present Friday because she is currently on maternity leave.

Bell said Breiner turned the letter over to prosecutors Thursday.

The judge asked Hironaka, “Are you concerned that Mr. Breiner is having conversations with the state that violates the court’s order?” There was a caveat that the letter had been declassified. Do you think they can talk about things that are not in the letter?”

Hironaka said Weiss had and still can have conversations with Breiner and Dowd and asked if she could talk to his previous attorneys.

Remigio pointed to a larger issue: “If the case goes to trial, what information will prosecutors have?”

Bell countered, saying the release of the letter “didn’t occur in the state until October 7” and that Weiss had no prior knowledge of the letter.

At a preliminary hearing on Oct. 7, Baron told the court that Spanish is his first language and that Breiner and Dowd did not have a Spanish interpreter to help him understand the plea agreement.

Baron claimed that Breiner told him he would die in prison if he did not take the deal.

He testified Oct. 7 that he thought he would be executed by electric chair if he did not accept a plea deal and said he did not know Hawaii did not have the death penalty. When asked Friday if his former attorneys had told him Hawaii had the death penalty or the electric chair, he said no.

The plea deal meant that Baron would admit to the crimes in exchange for the state not asking the court to extend the sentence. An extended sentence would mean life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Bell sought to discredit Baron on various aspects of his October 7 testimony. During that testimony, Baron denied that Breiner and Dowd were in plea negotiations with Weiss as far back as October 2023, which was documented in the letter.

Bell asked Baron if Dowd and Breiner told him the motion to dismiss was made to gain leverage in the plea negotiations.

“No, they told me what the prosecutor did,” Baron said, referring to the first deputy prosecutor in the case showing members of the public photos of the victim, referring to “predators” and “lone adults.”

Bell asked if the motion to dismiss included a request to dismiss the entire case, to recuse the Department’s prosecutor, and to recuse the first deputy prosecutor.

To each point, the Baron answered: “Correct.”

Bell asked if Dowd and/or Breiner ever told him that the court was unlikely to dismiss the entire case.

“Only when I was shown the deal,” he said.