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HONOLULU (AP) — The Latest on man facing trial for escaping from a Hawaii psychiatric facility (all times local):
5 p.m.
A nearly 1,600-page report by the Hawaii attorney general's office provides no new significant details into how a man committed to a psychiatric hospital was able to escape and fly to California before authorities were notified he was missing.
The redacted report was posted online Thursday, more than a day after officials announced an investigation found no single hospital employee responsible for Randall Saito's escape.
The report details interviews with employees who describe lax oversight of Saito, who was sent to Hawaii State Hospital after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity of a woman's murder more than 35 years ago.
The report says Saito was allowed to roam hospital grounds unescorted and was required to call in from a hospital phone every hour. The report says there was no log book to document the calls.
The report says patient counts at change of shifts were not consistently done, including on the day he escaped.
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10:22 a.m.
The attorney representing a man who escaped from a Hawaii psychiatric hospital says his client wants to go to trial.
Attorney Michael Green says Randall Saito "wants to get his story out there."
Saito appeared via video from a Honolulu jail Thursday to be arraigned in court on charges of escape and identity theft. Green pleaded not guilty on Saito's behalf.
In November 2017, Saito walked out of Hawaii State Hospital, where he was sent in 1981 after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing a woman. Saito was captured days later in Stockton, California.
Green told The Associated Press outside court that while the escape is a "foregone conclusion," Saito wants to fight the identity theft charge. Prosecutors say Saito had fake IDs when he was arrested.
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