Judge has 3 options for Aki's sentence
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall will have several options when she sentences Christopher Aki today for the December 2002 slaying of 11-year-old Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal.
Aki, 21, was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of the girl, who disappeared from her Halawa neighborhood on Dec. 10, 2002. Her body was discovered by a hiker three days later off the 'Aiea Loop Trail.
A jury in May found Aki guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter.
Under Hawai'i law, a manslaughter conviction is punishable by up to 20 years in prison with the state parole board deciding how much of the sentence must be served before the convict is eligible to parole.
But the law also allows for a sentence of up to a year in jail and 10 years' probation. The much-reduced sentence usually comes into play only if the person convicted of manslaughter has no prior criminal record, receives a largely positive presentence report and is deemed by the judge to be deserving of probation.
There is also a third option for judge to consider in the Aki case. At the request of Aki's lawyer, former state Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, who's now in private practice, Judge Crandall moved up the sentencing date from July 12 to today.
Those 10 days are significant because Aki turns 22 tomorrow, making him ineligible for a more lenient sentence under the state's "young adult offenders" provision.
The sentence for manslaughter under the young adult law — applicable to defendants 21 years old and younger — is no more than eight years.
Counting time served, that could lower Aki's remaining time to 6 1/2 years.
To be eligible for reduced sentences, young adult offenders may not have a prior felony conviction and may not have an offense on their juvenile record that would have been considered a felony had it been committed as an adult.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle has said he will argue against probation for Aki and sentencing him as a youthful offender.
Eddins said he will ask that Aki be sentenced to probation, or barring that possibility, as a young offender.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
