Kahealani jury selection begins
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
Jury selection opened in Circuit Court yesterday in the case of a Halawa man accused of killing 11-year-old Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal in December 2002.
Christopher Aki has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the girl's death. On Monday, Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall, who will preside over Aki's trial, rejected a last-minute request by Aki's lawyer to have Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle disqualified from the case.
State Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins said in the request he filed last week that the pool of jurors from which the jury in the Aki case will be chosen will likely include people who voted for Carlisle in 2000 or who may have worked on his campaign, and may want to do so again this year.
"I thought (the disqualification request) was silly and it was rejected out of hand," Carlisle said.
The Aki trial will mark the second time that Carlisle has prosecuted a high-profile case since the start of the year. He is awaiting a verdict in the attempted murder trial of Miti Maugaotega Jr., 18, who shot a 44-year-old man while burglarizing the man's Punchbowl home last year.
Testimony in the Aki trial is not scheduled to begin until March 28. Carlisle said more than three weeks were allotted to select a jury in large part because of concerns about the news coverage generated by the case.
Aki was arrested Dec. 13, 2002, the same day Kahealani's body was found off the 'Aiea Loop Trail. The girl was last seen three days earlier at the Pu'uwai Momi public housing in Halawa, where she lived.
Her disappearance triggered an intense search by city, state and federal law-enforcement agencies and Kahealani's family and supporters, who went door to door in the housing complex and swept nearby areas hoping to find the 'Aiea Elementary School sixth-grader alive.
Aki is being held in lieu of $5 million bail. He was a close, longtime friend of the girl's family and stood with them as they pleaded publicly for her safe return. He and Kahealani's 18-year-old half sister, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga, have a 1-year-old son.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
