Posted on: Wednesday, January 2, 2002

Selection of jury in former officer's trial begins Jan. 15

Associated Press

Jury selection in the manslaughter trial of a former Honolulu police officer accused of causing a fatal collision has been scheduled for Jan. 15, and prosecutors will begin presenting their case Jan. 29.

Clyde Arakawa is charg-ed in the Oct. 7, 2000, death of 19-year-old Dana Ambrose, who was killed when Arakawa's Ford Thunderbird broadsided the Honda Civic she was driving.

Arakawa, who is accused of being drunk at the time of the crash, retired from the police force after the accident.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn has ruled that prosecutors will not be able to present details of Ambrose's personal life, except for the night she died.

Arakawa's defense attorney had filed a motion to suppress evidence of Ambrose's life to prevent the prosecution from "creating an aura about her," said Jim Fulton, a spokesman for the prosecution.

Ahn partially granted the motion and will allow prosecutors to present evidence relevant to the events on Oct. 7, the night of the crash, Fulton said.

Ahn ruled earlier that she will allow the jury to visit the scene of the fatal collision.

She also ruled that a security camera videotape showing Arakawa drinking with friends at a Honolulu bar hours before the collision may be shown to the jury, and said the prosecution may make reference to a November 1992 incident in which Arakawa was found asleep or passed out on the living room floor of a stranger's home in Kailua.