Man gets life for 2002 shooting in Waikele

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A man who fatally shot another man during a traffic altercation in Waikele in December 2002 was sentenced yesterday to life in prison with parole.

Moses Thompson, 24, continued to assert he did not murder Eugene Rios, 31, during a confrontation on Kamehameha Highway between Lumi'aina and Waipi'o Uka streets.

"Everything you guys have done is unfair," Thompson told Circuit Judge Richard Perkins.

Perkins presided over the October trial in which a jury found Thompson guilty of second-degree murder and two weapons offenses in connection with Rios' death.

State deputy public defender Walter Rodby, Thompson's lawyer, asked Perkins yesterday to set aside the jury verdict and to acquit Thompson or, at the very least, to order a new trial.

Rodby said evidence presented at Thompson's trial showed there was "no premeditated intent" by Thompson to kill Rios.

In addition, Thompson had concerns "from the very start" of his trial over its fairness because none of the jurors were of African descent, nor was any of them close to Thompson in age, Rodby said.

But city deputy prosecutor Russell Uehara told Perkins that Thompson received a fair trial and that any concerns about the makeup of the jury should have been stated during the trial.

Perkins rejected the acquittal and new-trial requests and set a mandatory minimum of 20 years before Thompson becomes eligible for parole because he used a semi-automatic handgun to shoot Rios.

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority will set the minimum term Thompson must serve, as long as it is equal to or longer than the 20-year minimum imposed by Perkins.

Reach David Waite at 525-8030 or at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.