Guilty verdict leaves Guardsman in limbo

Associated Press

Attorneys are meeting with a judge this week to try to resolve the fate of a Hawai'i National Guard member called to active duty while awaiting sentencing on felony charges.

The parties are trying to determine whether the order calling Shaun C. Rodrigues to active duty supersedes all pending motions and proceedings in the case, including sentencing.

If the call to duty is given priority, all proceedings in Rodrigues' case would be delayed until he completes his military service.

Rodrigues, 24, is a member of the Hawai'i National Guard's 29th Infantry Brigade who was called to active duty with his unit last Monday. About 2,000 members of the Hawai'i Army National Guard and Reserve have been mobilized to begin training for a yearlong deployment to Iraq starting in February.

He was awaiting sentencing after being found guilty in March 2002 of tying up and robbing two women at gunpoint inside their Manoa home in July 2000.

Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall found Rodrigues guilty of first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of kidnapping after a jury-waived trial.

Sentencing has been delayed while defense attorneys pursued an appeal, and Rodrigues has been free on $75,000 bail.

Rodrigues, a former alarm systems installer, faces a 20-year term on each of the burglary and robbery convictions.

The Hawai'i National Guard has said it is waiting until Rodrigues is sentenced and a judgment of conviction is filed before taking any action against him, said Deputy Prosecutor Russell Uehara.

At issue is when a conviction becomes official.

William Harrison, Rodrigues' attorney, argues that under state law, a defendant first must be sentenced before an official judgment of conviction can be filed with the court.

"There's been a finding of guilt, but no conviction," Harrison said.

Uehara, who has been researching the issue, said he has uncovered a 19-year-old Hawai'i Supreme Court decision that says a finding of guilt is enough to qualify as a conviction. He said he will discuss with military authorities whether, under this specific case law alone, a guilty finding is sufficient basis for the National Guard to find that Rodrigues is undeployable.

Maj. Charles Anthony, spokesman for the Hawai'i National Guard, said he could not discuss Rodrigues' case because of privacy rules.

However, once a soldier has been convicted of a crime, the National Guard will usually conduct a review and, based on the severity of the crime, determine whether to discharge him or her, he said.