There will be no third murder trial Aug. 5 for Ray T.K. Sheldon for allegedly fatally shooting a 31-year-old acquaintance nearly five years ago, the night of April 19, 2019, outside Sheldon’s Punaluu home, then dragging his body to a banana patch behind his house.
Circuit Judge Kevin Souza found that after two hung juries it would be unlikely that a third jury trial would have a different outcome, so he dismissed with prejudice Feb. 29 the charges of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony. In other words, the state cannot prosecute Sheldon again for the murder of Hansen Apo, a drug dealer.
“This is not a slam dunk case for either the State or the Defendant,” Souza said in his Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order. “Though the evidence was extremely well presented at each trial, neither jury found sufficient evidence to conclude Defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
He noted that Deputy Prosecutor Ayla Weiss altered her presentation only slightly in the Aug. 15-24 second trial from the Aug. 16-22, 2022, trial, so there is little likelihood of any substantial difference. And despite the state arguing it will include a material witness, it could not secure her presence in previous trials.
Souza said, “Based on the Court’s own independent evaluation of relative case strength, it is not hard to see why the State has had a difficult time proving Defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and/or disproving his claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. ”
He said that despite the excellent professional conduct, diligence and thoroughness in painstakingly presenting the evidence of Weiss and Sheldon’s court-appointed attorney, Harrison Kiehm, at both trials, they resulted in “hopelessly deadlocked juries.”
Jurors in the first trial took two full days to deliberate. The second jury began deliberating Aug. 24 and was deadlocked the next day, so the judge declared a mistrial.
Sheldon testified at both trials. He said he was afraid of Apo, who had just gotten out of prison, and that he acted in self-defense and fired three warning shots in the air and only once toward him.
Weiss told jurors that Sheldon’s testimony at trial differed from what he told detectives, that he only fired three warning shots.
She said Apo had five gunshot wounds in his leg from a .45-caliber handgun and other gunshot wounds to his chest, shoulder and head, which a criminologist said was just inches from the victim when fired.
“The kill shot cannot be justified,” since he was already down, she said. “This was overkill.”
A onetime drug dealer himself, Sheldon claimed to have dedicated himself to helping others since his release from custody April 23, 2019, as president of the nonprofit My Brother’s Keeper PJKK.
The then-43-year-old had been released on a $500,000 bond after a judge cut his $1 million bail amount in half, since his lawyer had argued he had no prior criminal record.
Sheldon said that in 2012 Apo brought him stolen drugs to sell. But Sheldon said he returned the drugs to the dealer from whom Apo stole the drugs, so he feared Apo would seek revenge after getting out of prison.
Kiehm told jurors Apo had nothing to lose after serving time for beating up his girlfriend, when out of the blue he arrived at Sheldon’s home at 6:30 p.m. April 19, 2019, feigning sympathy over the death of Sheldon’s mother.
He said Sheldon anticipated Apo’s return, prepared an AR-15 rifle and ammunition, and told his girlfriend to leave the house.
He packed a .38-caliber handgun in his pocket. When Apo returned at 10:30 p.m., he fired three warning shots into the air before Apo directed the high beams of his Dodge Durango at Sheldon’s face, making it hard to see.
Sheldon testified that Apo struck him with the Durango, and Sheldon fired the AR-15.
But Weiss pointed out that despite Apo’s misdeeds, “he didn’t deserve to die.”
She said deadly force was not justified under the law if Sheldon knew he could avoid injury by retreating into his home.
Instead, Sheldon “played judge, jury and executioner,” she said.
Weiss said Sheldon wasn’t afraid of Apo, but was sick of him and shot him to protect his own ego.
Sheldon could have called police before Apo returned, or an ambulance after Apo was shot, Weiss said, but instead he dragged Apo’s body and hid it in a banana patch, calling police the next day.
