New sex assault trial set for former sailor

HONOLULU — A new trial has been scheduled against a former Navy sailor whose sex assault conviction was overturned.

Honolulu prosecutors aren't dropping their case against Roynes Dural but a spokesman for the office told the Associated Press in a statement that they're considering whether they have the witnesses necessary for retrial.

Dural was charged with sex assault in 2002, accused of having sex with his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The girl and her mother testified against him and he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

While he was in prison, the girl’s mother found out it was another man who was having sex with her daughter. That man and the girl got married. Another man also later confessed to having sex with the teen.

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The case will go back to the trial court, where prosecutors can either dismiss it or try it again.

Dural served eight years in prison and was released on early parole while his case was being appealed.

The conviction was overturned on appeal.

Dural appeared in court Monday, hoping the case would be dismissed, Hawaii News Now reported. Instead, a Dec. 2 trial date was set.

Prosecutors have "the evidence that proves my innocence," he said.

“I’ve been in contact with the lead prosecutor throughout,” said William Harrison, an attorney representing Dural on behalf of the Hawaii Innocence Project. “She’s indicated over and over again she wasn’t sure if they were going to proceed or not.”

The appeals court sent the case back to a lower court, but didn't dismiss the charges, Brooks Baehr, a spokesman for the prosecuting attorney's office, said in a statement.

The prosecuting attorney’s office is in the “process of determining whether it has the necessary witnesses to proceed with a retrial under the original indictment,” Baehr said.

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Navy Times editor’s note: In late 2002, Dural was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault allegedly committed between 1998 and 2000, although the dates were never specified by the purported victim. The appellant was on active duty in the Navy at the time and insists he was at sea or otherwise deployed when the alleged victim claims he committed the crimes.

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