Rights of suspected killer argued in court
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Circuit Judge Virginia Lea Crandall heard arguments yesterday on whether statements made by Christopher Clayburn Aki to police can be used at his murder trial scheduled for March 2004 but reserved ruling for a later date.
Aki is suspected of killing Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal, the 11-year-old sister of his girlfriend, last Dec. 10. The murder charge stems from what Aki told police during interviews that followed the discovery of the girl's body Dec. 13. According to prosecutors, Aki took "sole responsibility" for the slaying in one of the interviews.
But in filing the motion to ban the statements, deputy public defender Todd Eddins said Aki's constitutional rights were violated in a 55-minute interview that ended 3 1/2 hours before the body was found. Eddins argues that police suspected foul play in the girl's disappearance and viewed his client as a suspect yet questioned him without a Miranda warning.
Over a two-day period, Eddins questioned homicide detectives Sheryl Sunia and Ted Coons as well as officer Phil Camero of HPD's Missing Persons Detail to support the defense argument that Aki was considered a suspect after the girl disappeared, but before the body was found.
Coons was questioned about a Dec. 13 photo lineup conducted with two of Kahealani's classmates, who saw her briefly talking with a "haole uncle" after getting off a school bus. Aki was one of the six photos shown, but Coons also showed a driver's license photo of Aki, said Eddins.
Eddins noted in court that Coons had written in his report: "On Friday, 12-13-02, at about 08:40, I began the mechanics of preparing a photographic lineup of persons having similar characteristics as that of the suspect." There are two asterisks next to Aki's name with the notation, "denotes suspect," Eddins said.
Camero, meanwhile, testified that on Dec. 12, the day before Aki's first interview, a witness told him that she and her boyfriend saw Aki at the "Makalapa gate" on Dec. 10 and Aki told them he was going to pick up Kahealani.
Aki was "on the radar screen" as a target when police conducted their first interview with him, Eddins said in court.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Glenn Kim said at the time of the initial interview, there was yet no crime being investigated. The questioning by police was not "sustained and coercive" as it would be for a person suspected of a crime.
The issue is a legal one of whether the defendant was legally "in custody" at the time of the first interview. The necessity for Miranda warnings before an interview with law enforcement depends on whether the interview legally constitutes "custodial interrogation," Kim noted.
Kim added that the information obtained by Camero was not followed up on until Dec. 14, after Kahealani's body was discovered.
