Posted on: Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Man fit for trial in attempted murder of officer

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

A 43-year-old man accused of trying to kill a police officer by running him over with a stolen van last year has been declared mentally competent to stand trial.

Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall yesterday ruled that Daniel Vesper III is fit to proceed in his criminal case. She based her ruling on the findings by three court-appointed mental-health professionals who found Vesper to be mentally competent or exaggerating his mental problems.

Crandall scheduled the trial for the week of Oct. 3.

Vesper is charged with attempted first-degree murder of officer Jeffrey Omai on Dec. 2 last year at the Honolulu Community College parking lot. Police were trying to arrest him on charges related to a stolen-car case.

According to prosecutors, Vesper later said he knew Omai was an officer and he hoped the officer would die.

Vesper is also charged with stealing the van a day earlier and robbing a University of Hawai'i student of his moped and hitting the victim with a baseball bat earlier on Dec. 2.

Vesper was evaluated by the mental-health experts at the request of his defense lawyer, Jeffrey Hawk.

The panel also concluded that Vesper was legally sane at the time of the crimes — that he had the capacity to know right from wrong and to conform his conduct in accordance with the law.

One panelist described Vesper as having a long history of using marijuana, cocaine and more recently, methamphetamine.

He also has a history of mental problems and had been seeing a psychologist, psychiatrist Gene Altman wrote.

If convicted of attempted first-degree murder, Vesper would face a mandatory life sentence without parole, the state's harshest sentence.

Omai is recovering from his injuries, but has not returned to work.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.