A federal judge has acquitted Michael Miske of two charges, including attempted murder, related to a 2017 attack on Lindsey Kinney, a Kaneohe man witnesses said had angered the accused racketeering boss with posts on social media. 

The government did not present sufficient evidence at trial to show Miske tried to kill Kinney himself or aided and abetted others in attempting to kill Kinney in 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson, overseeing Miske’s federal racketeering case, ruled on Monday. 

The judge’s ruling came in response to a defense motion for judgment of acquittal on 18 counts in the complex case against Miske that has been playing out in federal court. Defense attorneys made the motion last week after the prosecution rested its case after more than four months of trial. Watson refused to acquit Miske on the other 16 counts.

The defense is expected to start its case when the trial resumes on Wednesday.

Kinney, who was formerly affiliated with the Nakipi Motorcycle Club, said he was targeted by Miske’s associates after turning down $50,000 he said he was offered to kill Johnathan Fraser, a 21-year-old man who was best friend’s with Miske’s late son, Caleb. Witnesses have said Miske wanted Fraser dead because he blamed Fraser for a car crash that led to Caleb’s death. Miske’s attorneys deny this.

Former Miske associate Jacob Smith also testified that Kinney had been publishing posts on social media that Miske took as an affront to his reputation, and Miske wanted him dead.

One afternoon in May 2017, Smith and Miske’s half brother, John Stancil, ambushed and shot at Kinney at Kualoa Ranch, where he was working as a rigging grip. Miske was also with them at the ranch.

Smith testified, though, that he shot into the air, intentionally missing Kinney, Miske’s attorney, Michael Kennedy, said during a court hearing last week. There is also no evidence showing Miske was carrying a firearm that night or provided firearms to Stancil or Smith before the ambush, Kennedy said. 

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar argued Miske orchestrated the ambush after another former associate, Norman Akau, took Kinney’s gun from him. Miske checked to make sure Smith and Stancil were armed before confronting Kinney at Kualoa Ranch, Nammar said. 

Even though evidence shows Akau gave Miske the “green light” after taking Kinney’s gun away, it doesn’t show removing the gun was part of a bigger plan to murder Kinney, Watson wrote in his order. 

Testimony about the ambush also doesn’t point to a murder plot, Watson wrote. Miske told Smith he wanted to fight Kinney and asked Smith to not allow Kinney to get close to him before he checked to see if Smith was armed, the order says.

“There is simply no way a rational trier of fact could construe this testimony, along with the other evidence in the record, as shedding any light on the intent necessary for a conviction under Count 8,” the order says. 

Watson acquitted Miske of count 8 — assault and attempted murder in aid of racketeering — and count 9 — carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. 

Last week, the government dismissed count 16 — conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. 

Miske still faces 16 counts, including murder in aid of racketeering and murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death in connection to the 2016 killing of Fraser. Both counts carry mandatory minimum life sentences if he’s convicted.