In a 47-page ruling issued yesterday, Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario said the state "failed to adequately warn visitors of the rockfall hazard" prior to the May 9, 1999, rockfall that killed eight people and injured dozens of others.

"We're very troubled by it," Anzai said. "It's a very long decision and we're looking over it very carefully."

Anzai said the ruling "sets a standard that's almost impossible to achieve." He said if the ruling stands, it could lead to the closure of other state parks, including Manoa Falls.

The civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of 28 people, including families of four of those who were killed at the popular O'ahu tourist attraction. Most of those killed were from California, and one was from Canada.

Del Rosario took nearly a year to rule in the trial, which began Sept. 20, 2001. Another trial is scheduled to begin in January to determine damages owed to the families, which attorneys expect to be in the millions of dollars.

The court ruled the rockfall "was not due to an Act of God," and added, "While falling rocks are a naturally occurring event, at all times prior to May 9, 1999, the state of Hawaii was required to use all reasonable care to protect visitors to the waterfall area of Sacred Falls State Park from the rockfall hazard."

Anzai said there were at least 10 signs at the park warning park users of potential danger.

"While they're not perfect, we really believe they were adequate," he said. "We believe there's some expectation that the public has some responsibility to read and to take the signs into account."

Plaintiffs' attorney Arthur Park called yesterday's ruling "a clear victory for the plaintiffs in terms that the state being at fault for the injuries and the deaths that happened."

The lawsuit alleged the state was negligent in not warning visitors of possible rockfalls, and having knowledge of the danger at Sacred Falls, because of prior incidents, including a 1982 rockfall that killed 4-year-old Anita Renville.

The state park, which has remained closed since the accident, drew 70,000 visitors a year to its scenic 2.2 mile hike through a banana field and a forest to an 87-foot waterfall. Dozens of hikers were sunning themselves at the deep pool beneath the waterfall when the landslide began about 850 feet above them. Some of the ricocheting boulders were the size of compact cars.

Advertiser staff writer David Waite contributed to this report.