Teen convicted in party slaying
By William Cole
Advertiser Courts Writer
After hearing six weeks of testimony, a jury yesterday found a teenager guilty of fatally shooting another teen at an 'Ewa Beach party last year that turned into a street brawl between dozens of boys from 'Ewa Beach and Kalihi.
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Joel Keoni Brunson, who was 17 at the time of the May 20 killing, did not react as guilty verdicts were read to the charges of second-degree murder, first-degree terroristic threatening of pointing his gun at a second teenager at the party and other firearm charges.
Joel Keoni Brunson shot Robert Rodemio in 'Ewa Beach.
The jurors deliberated for nine days.
Brunson, the father of an infant child, faces a prison term of 20 years to life with the possibility of parole when he is sentenced June 6 by Circuit Judge Michael Town for the shooting death of Robert Rodemio, 18.
The Kalihi man was running when he was shot in the stomach, prosecutors said.
Another bullet tore through his heart and liver.
Defense attorney Myles Breiner told the jury his client was at the 'Ewa Beach birthday party for a short time, but left before a gang fight broke out with dozens of teens wielding bats, knives, sticks and chains.
Breiner called the guilty findings the "correct verdict, but wrong person," after maintaining Brunson was misidentified in the nighttime darkness by witnesses who gave varying descriptions.
"Not one single witness in this case has identified Keoni's clothing consistently," Breiner told the jury during closing arguments. "Keoni must have changed his clothes how many times?"
The person who committed the murder "is walking away scot free," Breiner said following the verdict. An appeal is planned, he said.
But city Deputy Prosecutor Franklin Pacarro Jr. said it was clear "without a doubt" that Brunson shot and killed Rodemio. Anthony Quisagan, 18, who said he had known Brunson for about five years when the shooting took place, testified he was just two feet away from Brunson when Brunson began firing at Rodemio.
Brunson had arrived at the party with his 15-year-old pregnant girlfriend and a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun "because he wanted to show he was the man," Pacarro said during the trial. The gun was never found.
Prior to the shooting of Rodemio, Brunson interjected himself into the middle of a confrontation between a Kalihi teenager and some teens from 'Ewa Beach. Brunson pointed the gun at the Kalihi youth, Pacarro said.
A 17-year-old testified that he saw Brunson load a magazine into a pistol when the Kalihi youth was threatened, Pacarro said.
A 15-year-old who was also at the scene said he had seen Brunson with a pistol magazine at the party, and that later he saw Brunson walk toward Rodemio in the street when the brawl broke out, Pacarro said.
Altogether, seven people placed Brunson at the scene, the prosecutor said.
Brunson denied threatening or shooting anyone when police questioned him. He said he was at the party only for about 10 minutes before getting into an argument with his girlfriend and going home.
Brunson's mother had testified he was home with her at the time of the shooting.
