A Circuit Court jury this afternoon acquitted two men of charges of assaulting an çIolani Palace employee during a brief takeover of the palace by a Hawaiian sovereignty group last year.

Jurors deliberated less than two hours before returning not guilty verdicts on behalf of Donald Alfred Love-Boltz, 74, of Iowa, and Robert Roggasch, 70, of Maui.
Trial testimony often conflicted about the roles each man played during an altercation between the protesters and palace employee Betty Jean Noelani Au Yuen.
Another Maui man charged in the assault case, Norman Abihai, could not be located by law enforcement and a warrant for his arrest is still outstanding.
The acquittals are another setback in the state Attorney General’s efforts to prosecute members of the Maui group, led by James Akahi, also known as Akahi Nui.
A jury last month found Akahi guilty of simple trespass rather than the felony burglary charge brought against him.
Burglary charges against six others were dismissed by a judge before they ever got to trial.