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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, November 15, 2003

Disabled suspect seeks dismissal of murder case

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — The attorney for a Big Island man who was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial for a 1994 murder is seeking to have the charges dismissed in Hilo Circuit Court.

Oliver L. White is permanently disabled from a brain injury he suffered in a car crash, and likely will remain in a state-supported care home the rest of his life, said his lawyer, Stanton Oshiro.

Doctors who examined White said it was unlikely he would recover enough to be judged competent to stand trial for the robbery and murder of Kaua'i horse dealer and rodeo performer Vernon Souza Jr., 31.

"When you look at him for an extended period of time, you realize his punishment was meted out and the court couldn't punish him more," Oshiro said.

White and Jason Santos were indicted in 2000 for killing Souza, whose burned body was found Sept. 30, 1994, near the 16-mile marker on Saddle Road after what prosecutors said was a drug deal that turned violent.

Santos blamed White for the slaying, but prosecutors said it was Santos who slit Souza's throat and stabbed him while they were riding in a car. The victim also was beaten on the head with a horseshoe hammer, and the car was doused with gasoline and set on fire.

A jury convicted Santos of robbery and second-degree murder, and he is serving two consecutive life terms.

White was involved in a car crash in North Dakota about a month after the murder, and was in a coma for two months, according to court records. When he regained consciousness, "the man had to be taught his own name," Oshiro said.

White was in a care home in North Dakota when he was indicted and returned to Hawai'i to stand trial for Souza's murder.

After a panel of experts evaluated White, Circuit Court Judge Riki May Amano ruled in 2001 that he was not mentally fit to proceed. She ordered him into the custody of the state Department of Health for placement in "an institution for detention, care and treatment," according to court records.

About a month later, White was released from the Hawai'i State Hospital and placed in a care home. Oshiro said White now lives in a care home on the Big Island.

He said White seems to have the mental capacity of a 5- to 7-year old, walks with a limp and is partially paralyzed on one side.

"He's definitely not a danger at this point," Oshiro said. "I don't think a doctor in the world can testify that he is a danger."

Deputy Prosecutor Jack Matsukawa agreed that "he doesn't pose a threat because of his brain injury. It makes him very docile."

Amano refused a similar request to dismiss the charges and release White from court jurisdiction in August 2001, ruling that "the conditions upon which the defendant could be released without danger to himself, others or the property of others had not been met," according to court records.

Circuit Judge Terence Yoshioka has scheduled a January hearing to consider the new request.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.