Posted on: Thursday, April 25, 2002

Some crewmen to be held until trial

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

Some of the former crew members who were aboard a fishing boat when the vessel's captain and first mate were fatally stabbed last month could be held for as long as it takes for the man accused of the stabbings to stand trial on murder charges, it was disclosed at a federal court hearing yesterday.

Some 30 men from the People's Republic of China, who were aboard the Full Means No. 2 operated by a Taiwanese company when the stabbings occurred March 14, are being detained at the federal detention center near Honolulu International Airport as critical witnesses in the case.

Some of the men may be called as witnesses for the prosecution, while others may be defense witnesses. The trial date has not been set yet.

Lawyers for both sides have begun interviewing the crewmen to see what they know about the case, but it is a slow and cumbersome process, said Pamela Byrne, a deputy federal public defender who represents Lei Shi, 21, who is accused of the stabbings.

Depositions of the remaining crew members are being videotaped for possible use at trial. Byrne yesterday told federal Judge Helen Gillmor that the Mandarin translators who are helping with the depositions are "nearing burnout."

In addition, an attorney from San Francisco, Michael Burt, has been assisting Byrne in Shi's defense, but has to return to the Mainland today to prepare for a murder trial set to begin Monday. Burt was appointed as co-counsel for Shi because he has previous federal court experience in defending clients who may face the death penalty under federal law, a prospect that Shi faces.

Earlier yesterday, federal Magistrate Kevin Chang ruled that the videotaped interviews could continue in Burt's absence. Chang said Burt could view the tapes upon his return and could ask that the interviews be redone if he had objections to any of them.

Byrne and Burt immediately appealed Chang's ruling to Gillmor, who ordered the interviews suspended at least until Monday, when Burt is to call her office from San Francisco to say whether the murder trial there is going to proceed as scheduled.

Gillmor said it is imperative that U.S. officials try to release the crew members as quickly as possible since they were caught up in a situation they had no part in creating.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brady said it is possible that his office might want to keep "a handful" of the crew members on O'ahu to make sure they are available to testify at Shi's trial.

He said Ed Kubo, who heads the U.S. Attorney's Office in Hawai'i, is in Washington, D.C., trying to find money for the detained crewmen to pay for food and shelter while they are here — if they are not kept at the federal detention center.

He said Immigration and Naturalization Service officials may grant "parole status" to the crew members who are ordered detained in Hawai'i to await Shi's trial. That would allow them to take jobs while they are in Hawai'i, Brady said.

"But if we can't get stipends for them, we would have to send them back to the People's Republic of China and keep in contact with them and hope we can get them back for the trial," Brady said.