Posted on: Saturday, December 29, 2001

Big Isle jury acquits officer on 1 charge in abuse case

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island jury last night acquitted Ka'u policeman Warren Ke of unlawful imprisonment and abuse of a household member.

When jurors reported they were unable to agree on a second abuse charge, Judge Riki May Amano ordered them to resume deliberations. The outcome was not known at press time.

Kiana Dempster, 21, testified during the two-day trial that Ke, 39, choked her, hit her, dragged her into her bedroom and forced her to have sex with him in March when he was living in her family's home. She said Ke, who is on paid leave from the police department, is her boyfriend.

The officer denied a relationship with Dempster.

Dempster, a former exotic dancer who admitted years of illegal drug use before seeking treatment, said she was convicted of shoplifting and that she was charged with filing a false police report and with assaulting Ke's wife in February. Ke also was charged with assaulting his wife that same day, but charges against him and Dempster were later dismissed.

Dempster accused a different Ka'u police officer of raping her as many as 100 times over five years while providing her with drugs. A Kona judge earlier this month dissolved a temporary restraining against the officer, saying the woman's testimony was unreliable.