Bouncer found not guilty in patron’s death

A jury in state Circuit Court deliberated less than four hours Friday morning before finding a bouncer at a Kapiolani Boulevard strip club not guilty of manslaughter in the September 2010 death of an unruly patron.

Aysa Delos Santos, 24, let out a yell when a court clerk read the jury’s not guilty verdict.

He stood trial this week for manslaughter in connection with the death of 35-year-old Tripler Army Medical Center Sgt. Christopher Myers. A security guard found Myers’ body near the entrance to Saigon Passion III on Sept. 19, 2010.

The medical examiner said Myers died from alcohol concussion syndrome due to blunt head trauma caused by a fall following a punch. The autopsy said Myers had a history of alcohol abuse and a prior concussion.

Defense lawyer Donald Wilkerson told the jury Delos Santos didn’t punch Myers but pushed him after Myers spat in his face as he was getting kicked out of the strip club for unruly behavior.

Pot business began in July, indictment says

Honolulu police officer Michael Steven Chu and his co-defendant have been involved in the illegal possession, cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana since at least July 2011, according to an indictment a federal grand jury returned Thursday.

The indictment charges Chu and co-defendant Athena Sui Lee with possession of the 48 marijuana plants the Drug Enforcement Administration said its agents seized April 6 and 7, including 31 plants at Lee’s Kapiolani Boulevard apartment and 13 plants at Chu’s Mililani Mauka residence.

It also charges Chu and Lee with possessing the 1 pound of marijuana the DEA said its agents seized from Chu’s vehicle April 6, and 34 pounds recovered Tuesday. And the indictment charges Chu with attempting to possess 14 pounds of marijuana the DEA said was addressed to his Young Street apartment last July but that its agents intercepted.