Bryson Okada, 33, a Native Hawaiian man, was shot and killed in Honolulu on the night of May 18, 2022, after violence spilled out of an illegal game room near the Hawaiʻi Convention Center along Kapiʻolani Boulevard. A heated argument and a fistfight outside the establishment were followed by a return indoors and warnings that the confrontation wasn’t over; gunfire inside the game room left Okada dead and he was pronounced at the scene.

Honolulu police arrested Kawika Kanakanui; prosecutors indicted him on second-degree murder and multiple firearms-related counts, including being prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a prior conviction. A second defendant, Ikaika Atuatasi, was charged with a place-to-keep offense and later entered a no-contest plea to that charge. At trial Kanakanui testified that he had been beaten earlier and armed himself afterward for protection; a jury found him guilty as charged and the circuit court imposed a life sentence with parole eligibility plus additional terms on the firearm counts.

The conviction was later vacated and a new trial ordered by the Intermediate Court of Appeals on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel; the State’s request for further review was denied, leaving the case to be retried. Did anyone who was in or near the game room that night notice details that might not have been reported?