Hawaiʻi lawmakers have declined to increase penalties on serial stalkers but may come down heavier on those who violate temporary restraining orders after an estranged husband murdered his ex-wife in a mall December 2023.
The measures were prompted by the shooting death of Theresa Cachuela, whose attempts to seek help from her husband who was harassing her were rebuffed by police.
Senate Bill 295 was introduced to the Committee on Judiciary to increase the punishments given out to anyone found guilty of violating a temporary restraining order. This bill increases the legally required minimum jail sentence for breaking a Temporary Restraining Order and an Order for Protection.
A total of 27 written testimonies were shared with the committee. 25 of those testimonies were in support of the new bill, while two testimonies were against it: The Office of the Public Defenders.
The bill cleared the full Senate on March 4 and now moves to the House for consideration.
House Bill 186 would have changed harassment by stalking to a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Right now under state law, harassment by stalking is a misdemeanor.
The main point of contention over the bill was that aggravated harassment by stalking is already a felony.
Under the law, they both have the same definition – where a person is contacted after expressing that they don’t want someone to reach them.
Rep. Rachele Lamosao, who introduced the bill, said she introduced the measure to address some of the issues from Cachuela’s case.
She said that the likelihood of a stalker returning would be reduced if the measure that would punish abusers with longer jail sentences were passed.
The measure had support from the Honolulu Police Department, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, the Domestic Violence Action Center, a victim of stalking, and Lucita Ani-Nihoa, Cachuela’s mother.
She described that Cachuela was a loving, caring, and kind person. She would take care of anyone who needed it, even if that meant it affected her negatively.
“She’ll give you her last dollar. Even if she’s broke, she’ll find a way to get you the help you need,” Ani-Nihoa said.
She organized sign wavings and wanted to ensure that Cachuela’s story about stalking and domestic violence was told. Ani-Nihoa calls it the ‘Theresa’s Puuwai Legacy.’
“We wanted a bill to pass or be a law in regards to TRO violators, and that’s our movement right now with HB 186. I was happy that they were thinking about changing it into a felony because Jason followed her,” she said, referring to Cachueala’s ex-husband who later shot himself.
The public defender’s office opposed the bill.
Sonny Ganaden, a deputy public defender, said that the current law on aggravated harassment, which is already a Class C Felony, is meant to keep harassment by stalking from escalating.
“To amend the law by deleting a misdemeanor offense, which is punishable by up to a year in prison and a significant fine, would be unnecessarily severe, burdensome upon the court system, burdensome upon individuals who would otherwise never again engage in criminal conduct, and would not deter crime,” the office said in written testimony.
The House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee deferred the bill.
Lamosao said she’s still open to working on these issues.
“I’m not losing hope on where our efforts are going in regards to resolving some of these issues. Hopefully moving forward we can have a much broader and better discussion with some of the stakeholders to resolve some of these issues,” Lamosao said.
Though the stress weighed heavily on families and friends, Ani-Nihoa has found some light in the darkness.
“Sometimes you have to experience the bad to know the good,” Ani-Nihoa said.
