Jury deliberations begin in Aki trial
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A 40-pound rock became the focal point of closing arguments yesterday in the Christopher Aki murder trial with the prosecution saying it couldn't possibly have been used to kill Kahealani Indreginal and the defense claiming not only was it the murder weapon but contained the kind of vital evidence overlooked repeatedly by police.
The case was turned over at about 3:15 p.m. to a jury of seven men and five women to begin deliberations. The panel resumes deliberations today.
The prosecution claims Aki beat the 11-year-old girl to death with a pipe the day after he spent several hours smoking crystal methamphetamine with two friends.
The defense maintains that Aki falsely confessed to the crime because the girl's real killer, an uncle named Dennis Cacatian, stabbed the girl, hit her in the head with the rock at least six times and threatened to kill Aki and his whole family if he told the truth.
Kahealani, an 'Aiea Elementary School sixth-grader, was last seen Dec. 10, 2002, near her family's apartment in the Pu'uwai Momi public housing complex in Halawa. Her beaten and badly decomposed body was found off the 'Aiea Loop Trail three days later.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle described Aki, 21, as a skilled and accomplished liar who often blended the truth with lies to mislead police in their efforts to solve the girl's death. Carlisle said Aki was "calm and collected" and even joked with police investigators the first time he talked with them on Dec. 13, 2002, a few hours before the girl's body was found.
Police continued to gather evidence in the case and by the time they interviewed Aki a second time on Dec. 13, the girl's body had been found and witnesses had reported that the girl was seen getting into Aki's car and hearing Aki say he was going to pick up his girlfriend's sister — a reference to Kahealani, Carlisle said.
During the second interview, Aki's mood had changed to "cautious, evasive, confusing and defensive," Carlisle said.
When Aki confessed to police the following day, his demeanor had changed even more, and this time he was crying, remorseful, apologetic and mumbling, Carlisle said. He said the character changes in Aki were nearly a perfect match of those described by psychologist Harold Hall who testified about first-time violent acts committed by crystal methamphetamine users.
Carlisle played a brief portion of a videotape that was made when Aki confessed to killing the girl. "This killing was out of his character, that's why you see this remorse," Carlisle said. "He's remorseful for killing an 11-year-old girl."
But Aki's lawyer, state Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, told police that Carlisle and the police were trying to make Aki "a poster boy" for methamphetamine abuse.
He said police prematurely shut down their investigation after Aki falsely confessed and made essentially no effort to check out Cacatian's alibi or collect other evidence about his possible involvement in the case.
Eddins told the jury the prosecution had failed to produce a single bit of physical evidence in the case linking Aki to the girl's murder. While DNA from the girl's blood was found in Aki's car, it probably got there on the feet of Cacatian and another man, who has yet to be identified, who was with Cacatian when the killing occurred, Eddins said.
"This is CSI Tijuana here," Eddins told the jury, in reference to the popular "CSI" television series. "What was missed, what was overlooked here," Eddins said.
He said Honolulu Medical Examiner Kanthi von Guenthner concluded the girl died from injuries to her head or neck but refused to acknowledge the rock could have been the murder weapon.
But in his final words to the jurors, Carlisle invited them to try to pick up the rock.
"Common sense would suggest that if this was the murder weapon, her head would have been pulverized," Carlisle said.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
