Arakawa to claim resilient liver

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A state judge cleared the way yesterday for former police officer Clyde Arakawa to argue at his manslaughter trial that tests show that his liver is able to clear alcohol from his body at a faster-than-normal rate.

In a ruling made with jurors out of the courtroom, Circuit Judge Karen Ahn said she will allow toxicology expert Mark Hagadone to testify Monday on Arakawa's behalf.

Hagadone indicated at the hearing yesterday that he will essentially testify that Arakawa is an experienced drinker whose liver developed the ability over a number of years to remove alcohol from his bloodstream at a faster rate.

Arakawa's lawyer Michael Ostendorp is calling Hagadone as a witness to bolster the defense that Arakawa wasn't drunk at the time of a fatal collision, despite Arakawa having had at least nine beers over seven hours before the crash.

Ostendorp disputes the prosecution's claim that Arakawa had a blood alcohol level of .15 to .17 at the time of the crash, about twice the legal limit of .08, but he has not said what he believes Arakawa's blood alcohol level was during the accident.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle maintains that Arakawa, 50, was drunk and traveling toward Kailua on Pali Highway at more than twice the 25 mph speed limit when his 1993 Thunderbird struck a 2000 Honda Civic driven by Dana Ambrose. Ambrose, 19, died of injuries she received in the Oct. 7, 2000, accident.

Ostendorp claims Ambrose was speeding and that she ran a red light on School Street.

During an evidence hearing, Hagadone said he reviewed the work done by researcher Norman "Wes" Anderson who had Arakawa consume a number of alcoholic drinks over a six-hour period and then measured the rate at which Arakawa was able to clear the alcohol from his system.

Hagadone, head of a Hawai'i company which tests employees for alcohol abuse, said he reviewed Anderson's work and findings and concluded that he used a valid scientific process to arrive at his results.

Hagadone did not say at the hearing yesterday how many drinks Anderson gave Arakawa or the rate at which Arakawa could reduce the amount of alcohol in his system.

Ahn said she would not allow Hagadone to talk about other aspects of Anderson's testing of Arakawa, including Arakawa's ability to drive a car on a closed course after he was given the drinks or his ability to follow the commands of someone seated in the car with him.

But Hagadone will be allowed to say — based on Anderson's research — what he believes Arakawa's blood alcohol level was at the time of the fatal crash, Ahn ruled, despite objections from Carlisle.

In other trial activity yesterday, an accident reconstruction expert hired by the defense said he concluded Ambrose ran the red light moments before the crash and that Arakawa entered the intersection on a green light that was changing to yellow.

Robert Anderson, a former Stanford University professor, said his conclusion was based on an examination of the filaments in the traffic lights that were recovered from the intersection following the crash.

Anderson said he believes Arakawa was traveling about 38 mph when the collision occurred and that Ambrose was going 50. Those estimates are based on damage to the two vehicles, Anderson said.

He said that Ambrose's Honda was equipped with a "black box" that would have provided information about the last five seconds of the car's operation, including its speed, but the box and the information it contains was never retrieved from her wrecked car.

Another defense witness, Jerry Zak, said he was nearly involved in a collision at the same intersection in January 2001.

He said he stopped for a red light at School Street while traveling toward Kailua and had traveled just three or four feet into the intersection when the stoplight suddenly turned from green to red and a car traveling on School Street passed by a few feet in front of his car.

Zak said he does not know Arakawa and that he reported what he believed was a malfunction to police, but never heard back.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.