Suspect claims rights violated
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
A ruling is expected today on whether murder suspect Christopher Clayburn Aki's constitutional rights were violated before police obtained his confession to killing 11-year-old Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal last December.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
The ruling hinges on a legal custody issue. Miranda warnings are required before "custodial interrogation" of a suspect by law-enforcement officers can legally occur. Aki was interviewed twice on Dec. 13, the day Kahealani's body was discovered at 2 p.m. He was first interviewed for 55 minutes starting at 9:55 a.m. and released.
Christopher Aki, right, and his attorney Todd Eddins were in court yesterday seeking to have the court suppress Aki's confession in the killing of Kahealani Indreginal.
He was interviewed again 6:03 p.m., four hours after the body was found, but police read him his rights before the second interview because, as homicide detective Sheryl Sunia testified in court yesterday, Aki was at that point a suspect.
Circuit Judge Virginia Lea Crandall today began hearing arguments on a defense motion to suppress Aki's confession because police did not read Aki his Miranda rights before the first interview on Dec. 13.
During questioning by deputy prosecuting attorney Glenn Kim yesterday, Sunia said no crime was being investigated when Aki voluntarily agreed to be interviewed on Dec. 13.
Police had earlier interviewed Kahealani's parents — Vincent Indreginal and Lehua Tumbaga — and her adult sister, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga, and brothers, Kawika Mamala-Tumbaga, Alika Indreginal and Keola Indreginal. The interviews were conducted to obtain background information on the missing girl, Sunia said.
Deputy public defender Todd Eddins, however, argued that before the first interview with Aki on Dec. 13, police had obtained information about a "haole uncle" that a girl fitting Kahealani's description was seen with on Dec. 10, the day she disappeared.
Between the time Aki left the police station after the first interview and discovery of the body on Dec. 13, homicide detective James Anderson received information from two witnesses who said they saw a girl resembling Kahealani in a car with Aki. Based on that information and the discovery of the body, Aki became a suspect because there was now a crime, Sunia said.
Tapes of all the interviews, which have been forwarded to Crandall, will address the legal custody issue, Kim said. "The question is whether questioning by police (in the first interview) was coercive in nature," Kim added.
Crandall is expected to rule on the motion today after defense witnesses are questioned. The murder trial has been rescheduled for March.
