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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Threatening charge against convicted robber dismissed

Associated Press

A judge dismissed a terroristic threatening charge against a former Hawai'i National Guard member convicted of robbery after the state took too long to bring the case to trial.

The charge against Shaun Rodrigues of Kailua stemmed from a foiled burglary at a Manoa home on July 6, 2000.

The case had been put on hold pending Rodrigues' trial in the home invasion robbery of another Manoa home two days later. He was convicted in 2002 of kidnapping and burglary in that case.

In September, Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall sentenced Rodrigues to 20 years for breaking into the home of Diane Sugihara, tying up her and her daughter and robbing them at gunpoint.

Before his sentencing, Rodrigues, 25, had been preparing to go to Iraq in February on a one-year deployment with his National Guard unit, which was activated on Aug. 16. Rodrigues was released from active duty so that his sentencing could proceed, and his attorney said he would resign from the Guard.

A National Guard spokesman would only say that Rodrigues was a former guardsman.

Rodrigues, who has contended that he is a victim of mistaken identity, remains free on bail while he appeals his conviction. The city Prosecutor's Office has not decided whether it will re-indict Rodrigues in the July 6, 2000, case.