Posted on: Thursday, March 14, 2002

Prosecution disputes claim of insanity in Kaua'i killing

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A state judge will rule tomorrow on whether a man charged with the shotgun murder of one man and the wounding of another in Hanama'ulu in 2000 should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Judge Clifford Nakea yesterday heard defense and prosecution lawyers arguing about how much of Howard Giddens' mental illness was caused by the use of methamphetamine and whether he is criminally responsible for his admitted role in a shooting rampage that killed Colan Fernandez and wounded Nelson Cuba on Sept. 18, 2000.

Defense attorney James Itamura said Giddens has long been delusional, although the lawyer admitted the mental disorder got worse after Giddens' occasional use of illegal drugs. Even after 18 months in jail, the mental problems persist, he said.

"He's been in (the state jail at Wailua) a year and a half, and he's still in his heart and mind totally convinced of the rightness of his actions," Itamura said.

Prosecuting attorney Michael Soong said voluntary drug use is not grounds for absolving the user in a criminal case. He said most psychologists who studied Giddens found that his mental disorder was made worse by drug use.

Regardless of that, Giddens acted like someone who knew what he was doing, and knew that what he was doing was illegal, Soong said.

Giddens stole a shotgun, practiced with it, told his family he needed to do something that would get him jailed and, after shooting the two men, called police to request a negotiator so he could surrender.

"There's a wealth of facts that the defendant was in control at the time of the shooting," Soong said.

Giddens, then 27, told authorities he believed that the men he shot were part of a plot that threatened him and his family, although he knew neither man.

On that morning, he drove to Hanama'ulu Beach Park and fired several shots at Cuba, a homeless man who was sitting in his car. Shotgun pellets wounded Cuba in the face and neck.

A short time later, Giddens returned to his home in a Hanama'ulu subdivision and shot Fernandez, a neighbor who was sitting in his own garage waiting for a ride to work. Later, he walked up and down the street, firing the shotgun at cars and houses, and calling on other neighbors to come out and confront him.

He is charged with murder, attempted murder, reckless endangering, criminal property damage and a firearms count.