The lawyer for accused killer Tittleman Fauatea entered a not guilty plea for him yesterday morning, saying he met briefly with his client Friday but that it was "difficult to communicate with him" because of Fauatea's mental problems.

Fauatea, 25, is charged with an apparently unprovoked murderous knife attack on Wai'anae High School teacher Asa Yamashita Feb. 27 at Ewa Town Center.

Circuit Judge Derrick Chan set a preliminary trial date for tomorrow, although the proceedings will almost certainly be delayed beyond that time to complete mental health assessments of Fauatea, who has previously been diagnosed as schizophrenic.

Fauatea is being held in isolation at O'ahu Community Correctional Center, unable to post $500,000 bail.

His court-appointed defense lawyer, Dean Young, entered a plea of not guilty for Fauatea, who appeared in Chan's court via a video feed from the prison.

"He is being medicated at OCCC," Young said outside court, adding that on Friday Fauatea did not appear to understand much about his situation other than that "he is in prison."

"He has a history of being unfit to proceed" in legal cases because of his psychiatric problems, Young said.

"It's not uncommon" for individuals with such problems to "stop taking their medication" if they are not supervised or supported when at large in the community, Young said.

"They don't seek it, they don't want it, they think they don't need it," Young said.

Once off medication, such individuals "begin to decompensate," he said.

Fauatea allegedly stabbed Yamashita, 43, the mother of two children, multiple times as she sat on a bench waiting for a ride from her husband.