Trial in Kahealani killing delayed

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

AKI

KAHEALANI

Both the defense and prosecution agreed to the postponement.

One issue that must be resolved before the trial involves a defense request that contends Aki's constitutional rights were violated by police in obtaining his alleged confession, which led to his Dec. 17, 2002 indictment for second-degree murder.

It asks that the prosecution be barred from introducing Aki's statements during the trial. Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall is scheduled to hear the request on Aug. 21.

Aki, who turned 21 on July 3, is in his eighth month at O'ahu Community Correctional Center, unable to post $5 million bail.

Kahealani's body was found at the Ke'aiwa Heiau at 'Aiea Heights Drive by a hiker on Dec. 13, two days after she was reported missing. Aki is accused of beating her to death.

Aki's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, is asking the judge to suppress statements made by Aki to police during 55 minutes of questioning before Kahealani's body was discovered.

The motion argues that police exploited statements from that interrogation, in which Aki was not advised of his constitutional rights, to obtain additional information from him during a second round of questioning on the day Kahealani's body was found.

According to the defense request, the detectives during the second round of questioning tried to get Aki to retract earlier denials and to admit he was with Kahealani.

The detectives referred to video from a traffic-light camera and other witnesses who claimed Aki was with the girl, but Aki stood by his earlier statements that he was with a friend and the friend's girlfriend, the motion said.

The motion said for the next two hours "police continue their speech-making, call Aki a liar, and berate him into providing details into Kahealani's disappearance and death."

"To entice him into divulging the details, the police continually raise the apparent untruthfulness of Aki's claim in the first interrogation that Kahealani was never in his car," the motion says.

Jim Fulton of the prosecutor's office said he had no comment on the motion, but said prosecutors are working on a response.

At a July 18 pretrial conference hearing with Crandall, Eddins and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Glenn Kim agreed to postpone the start of the murder trial because several issues affecting trial preparation are still unresolved. Due to scheduling conflicts for Eddins and Crandall in January and February, respectively, the parties agreed to start the trial in March.

"The prosecution has potentially significant evidence that has been sent to the Mainland to be analyzed and the results need to be submitted to our office," Fulton said when asked why prosecutors agreed to the continuance. "This evidence would not have been ready for trial in September and would not give the defense sufficient time to prepare for trial."

In February, Aki submitted blood and hair samples for DNA testing but lab tests for any matches have not been completed.

Fulton noted that Aki was also scheduled to be tried for firearm and drug offenses unrelated to the murder in September. That trial will be rescheduled for 2004 after the murder trial is completed, said Fulton.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.