JONATHAN BURGE

Attorney at Law

Murder is of course the most serious of crimes.  It occurs whenever your actions cause the death of another person.  There are several different levels of murder in Hawaii.

These offenses carries a maximum possible jail term between 20 years and life depending on the facts of the case. There is no way to clear your record unless you win your case. Often, we deal initially with the defendant’s family since the defendant may not be able to afford bail. Although the bail is initially set very high, we may be able to get the bail reduced or to have the defendant released without bail on supervised release.

Mr. Burge has represented numerous people charged with murder. In these cases there are often multiple defendants, or there is a domestic dispute involved. Also, there is often an issue of self-defense. Under the right circumstances the law allows a person to use deadly force to defend themselves. Once self-defense is raised by a defendant, the prosecution has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant did not use self-defense.

Murder 1

Murder 1 occurs if multiple people are killed in a single incident, as is the case of Brian Uesugi, or if you kill a police officer, judge, witness, juror, or hire someone to kill another, or kill someone when hired to do so.  A conviction for this type of case calls for mandatory life in jail, without the possibility of parole.

Murder 2

This is the typical intentionally or knowingly killing of another.

Manslaughter

This is the reckless killing of another, or doing so under extreme emotional distress.  Recently, the prosecutor's office has been charging people who kill someone while drunk driving with this type of case if they have had a prior DUI conviction.

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