An Uber driver awaiting trial on charges he sexually assaulted a passenger is asking to have his case dismissed because the DNA recovered from the alleged victim is not his.
Luke Wadahara, 25, is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of attempted first-degree sexual assault involving a 16-year-old girl. His trial is scheduled for April. Wadahara remains in custody, unable to post $150,000 bail.
Wadahara maintains that he had consensual sex with the girl.
His lawyer filed documents in state court last month asking to have the case dismissed based on the test results of DNA collected from the alleged victim and Wadahara. According to the documents, an official report from the Honolulu Police Department Scientific Investigation Section shows that DNA recovered from the girl is that of another male, not Wadahara.
The documents also say none of the girl’s DNA showed up on Wadahara or his clothing.
The report is dated Nov. 30. The state did not have the report when the prosecutor presented the case to the grand jury that indicted Wadahara on April 21 and again Aug. 25.
Wadahara’s lawyer says that, according to state court rules of evidence, the charges should be dismissed and if the state wants to refile them, the prosecutor should present the whole case with the DNA test results to a new grand jury. A state judge has scheduled a hearing on the request for next week.
Police said the girl and some friends hailed a ride on Uber on April 16 from Ala Moana Center. They said Wadahara picked up the girl and her friends, dropped off the friends in Mililani and then headed back into town to drop off the girl.
The girl told police that instead of taking her home, Wadahara made a detour in Makiki, parked his car and sexually assaulted her. She said she was able to free herself and run to her home. where she and her mother downloaded Wadahara’s personal information from the Uber profile page and Facebook.
Police arrested Wadahara at his Kapiolani-area apartment a few hours later.
