Ruling sought in trial of Chinese

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

The U.S. attorney's office in Honolulu has asked Attorney General John Ashcroft whether a man from the People's Republic of China should be subject to a death sentence if convicted of murdering the captain and first mate aboard a Taiwanese fishing vessel.

Lei Shi, 21, is accused of fatally stabbing the two men in March in international waters southeast of the Big Island after the captain rejected his demands that the boat stop fishing and return to China.

Shi's lawyer, assistant federal public defender Pamela Byrne, appealed to U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor yesterday to have Shi released from solitary confinement at the Federal Detention Center near the airport, where he has been held since April.

Byrne also asked Gillmor to overturn an earlier order by a magistrate judge that Shi be made to turn over samples of his handwriting so they can be compared against entries in a journal and letters that may contain incriminating evidence against him.

Gillmor agreed to put off making a decision until a prison representative can be present in court to explain why it necessary to continuing segregating Shi from the rest of the detainees.