Murder defendant Kirk Lankford's description of how victim Masumi Watanabe was only slightly injured when his truck struck her last April was "a physical impossibility," an expert witness testified yesterday.

Watanabe would have suffered severe injuries, including a broken and deeply lacerated arm and possibly a broken elbow and shoulder, said accident reconstruction expert Kenneth Baker.

Lankford testified that Watanabe appeared to have only slight injuries on her hands after he sideswiped her with his truck as she stood by the side of Pupukea Road the morning of April 12.

Baker based his testimony on Lankford's description of the accident and on a drawing of the truck's broken windshield made by a former co-worker of Lankford's at Hauoli Pest Control.

On cross examination, defense lawyer Donald Wilkerson pointed out that another witness in the case said the break in the windshield was much closer to the edge of the glass, but Baker said he had never been given that information.

Still, he said, given Lankford's estimate that the truck was traveling between 20 and 25 miles per hour at the time of the collision, the impact would have severely damaged Watanabe's arm.

And the arm would have been badly cut and bleeding by the radio antenna of the truck, which would have cut into her "like a knife," Baker said.

He said the antenna also would have been damaged by the impact, but when he examined it this week, it was completely intact.

Lankford, 23, is accused of murdering Watanabe after he encountered the 21-year-old Japanese national as she walked along the side of Pupukea Road.

Lankford testified this week that he tried to drive Watanabe home after the minor accident, but couldn't communicate with the shy woman who spoke very little English.

While he was trying to find her house, Lankford said, Watanabe became very agitated and began "screaming" at him in Japanese as Lankford was driving his truck along Makana Road.

Lankford said he was driving 35 to 40 miles per hour when Watanabe suddenly opened the passenger door and dove out of the vehicle, suffering a fatal injury when her head hit the ground or a roadside rock.

Certain that he would lose his job and be unable to provide for his family, Lankford said, he disposed of Watanabe's body by carrying it out to sea offshore of Kualoa Ranch.

The body was never found.

Baker said yesterday that it would have been difficult for Watanabe to open the truck door at the speed described by Lankford because it was also negotiating a curve in the road that would have pressed her toward the driver's side of the vehicle.

If she did act as Lankford described, her body would have traveled 81 feet to 106 feet on the ground before stopping on the roadway or the grass-covered side of the street, Baker said.

Testifying for the defense yesterday was forensic pathologist Dr. James Navin, who discussed a series of scratches found on Lankford's hands by police in April 2007.

Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Kanthi de Alwis testified March 20 that the small scratches and abrasions on Lankford's hands and fingers were "consistent with fingernail marks."

But Navin said yesterday that photographs of the scratches were taken on three different days in April by police technicians. Navin's analysis showed that some of the injuries occurred well after Watanabe disappeared and others were in different stages of healing and could not have been inflicted on the same day.

The trial moves into its seventh week when it resumes Monday. Closing arguments in the case are expected to be delivered Wednesday or Thursday.

That would bring the end of the trial nearly to the anniversary of Watanabe's disappearance.

Her family in Japan and supporters here are planning a memorial service for Watanabe April 12 at Kawaiaha'o Church. Robert Iinuma, a friend of the family, said Watanabe's parents, Hideichi and Fumiko Watanabe, will attend the service, along with her older brothers, Kenya and Ryo.

Kahu Curt Kekuna will conduct the service, to be held from 10 to 11 a.m. More information is at www.findMasumi.org.