Judge acquits Kaua'i officer in assault case
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A police officer whose sexual assault case led to the suspension of Police Chief George Freitas was acquitted yesterday.
Officer Nelson Gabriel, 36, remains on desk duty pending resolution of unrelated misdemeanor charges involving harassment of a female co-worker.
Freitas said Gabriel, his wife, and his lawyer, Michael Green, visited his office shortly after Judge George Masuoka issued the verdict.
"I'm glad it's over for him. He is, was and remains an employee here," Freitas said.
Gabriel was charged in 1999 with kidnapping, sexual assault of a minor, and related sexual assault counts, all relating to a single complainant. A nonjury trial was held last September, with Masuoka filing a written verdict yesterday.
The defense focused on the complainant's lack of credibility, noting she had made sexual assault allegations against other men and had a history of telling lies on other matters. Masuoka said because there were no other witnesses to any alleged assaults, he could not convict.
"The testimony of even a single witness, if believed, is sufficient to prove a fact," the judge said. But, "the court found the testimony of the complaining witness to be not credible."
Freitas returned to work early this month after a five-month suspension with pay for complaints brought by two senior officers. The most serious of those complaints alleged that Freitas interfered in the criminal investigation of Gabriel by ordering detectives not to use information from the harassment case to solicit testimony in the sexual assault case.
Freitas admits giving that order to detectives but said he based it on advice he solicited from county attorneys.
The allegation of hindering prosecution is one of three counts left from 10 original complaints that led to Freitas' suspension. The other two are that Freitas used a county vehicle while searching for a home on Kaua'i's west side, and that he gave an improper order to a subordinate. Freitas says both complaints are without merit.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
