U.S. has jurisdiction in murder on ship

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

The United States has jurisdiction over a citizen of mainland China who is accused of stabbing to death the captain and first mate aboard a Taiwan-owned fishing boat last March in international waters, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

Federal Judge Helen Gillmor said a section of federal law had been enacted by Congress specifically to address crimes on the high seas, such as the ones charged against Lei Shi, 21.

Federal law enforcement officials claim Shi, a cook aboard the Full Means No. 2, stabbed the two men southeast of the Big Island after they rejected his demands to sail to China and demoted him to deck hand.

Shi contends crew members routinely were beaten and not paid. He also contends the boat's operators broke promises to the fishermen recruited from some of China's poorest provinces.

Other crew members aboard the vessel overpowered Shi and called the U.S. Coast Guard, which escorted the boat to Hawai'i.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has decided not to seek the death penalty for Shi, whose trial on murder charges will take place in September and is expected to last about three weeks.