Jury sees alleged murder weapon
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A Circuit Court jury was shown a piece of evidence yesterday that is crucial to the defense of Christopher Aki: a 40-pound blood-stained rock that Aki's lawyer asserts was the murder weapon used to kill 11-year-old Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle maintains that Aki, 21, used a pipe or a pole a day after smoking crystal methamphetamine to beat Kahealani before leaving the dead or dying girl at a state park at the top of 'Aiea Heights. Kahealani was the half-sister of Aki's former girlfriend, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga.
But Aki's lawyer, state Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, said Aki falsely confessed to the December 2002 killing because the girl's real killer, her uncle Dennis Cacatian, threatened to kill Aki and his family if Aki told the truth.
Eddins claims Cacatian smashed the girl in the head with a "boulder," the large rock shown to the jury yesterday.
Eddins expects to call Cacatian as a witness for the defense, possibly toward the latter part of next week. But Eddins expects Cacatian, who has denied involvement in the slaying, to assert his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
If that happens, Eddins wants to call Cacatian's brother, Eldefonso "Poncho" Cacatian, who says Dennis told him he was involved in the girl's death.
In a pre-emptive move, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Glenn Kim, who is assisting Carlisle in the trial, filed a memo yesterday saying Eldefonso Cacatian should not be allowed to testify about what his brother may have to told him about the girl's death, because it would be "hearsay" and inadmissible.
Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall is expected to rule next week on whether to allow the testimony.
In court testimony yesterday, Greg Tavares, a former police officer and the investigator for the public defender's office, said he went with Eddins Dec. 26 to the park where Kahealani's body was found.
Tavares said Eddins told him to look for the rock, which might be near where the girl's body was found Dec. 13. Tavares did not say how Eddins knew about the rock.
He said he spotted the rock in an area cluttered with vines and small trees.
The rock was sent to the Technical Associates lab in California for testing, including a DNA analysis.
According to yesterday's court testimony, the California lab concluded that "Kahealani Indreginal could not be ruled out as the source" of the DNA found on the rock. In addition, the lab estimated that at the very most, only one in 3.77 trillion individuals in the general population could have an identical DNA makeup.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
