The accused killer of toddler Cyrus Belt received emergency psychiatric treatment twice at The Queen's Medical Center but was discharged after overnight stays and has "never actually been treated by a mental health expert," his lawyer said yesterday.

Matthew Higa's most recent visit to Queen's Kekela Ward was Dec. 11, said defense lawyer Randy Oyama after a brief court hearing yesterday morning. Higa was taken to Queen's after an incident at a Honolulu car dealership in which he locked himself in a car and refused to get out until officers were called to the scene, according to police.

Higa, who lived in the same apartment building as Cyrus, is charged with killing the 23-month-old toddler by throwing him off an H-1 Freeway overpass Jan. 17.

Higa's attorney did not protest a prosecution motion to hold Higa without bail pending trial. Higa was not in court for the hearing, held before Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rom Trader said in a motion that Higa "may pose a serious risk of danger to others" and should not be eligible for bail no matter how high the amount.

MENTAL-HEALTH EXPERT

Higa, at the time of the alleged offense, "was laboring under the effects of a mental disease, defect or disorder," said Higa's attorney, Oyama, after the hearing.

He said he plans to have his client examined by a mental-health expert and then will ask the court to appoint a three-member panel of independent experts to assess Higa's mental status.

Oyama said Higa initially did not know why he had been arrested by police, but now appears to understand the charges against him.

Witnesses told police they saw Higa throw a child from the Miller Street pedestrian overpass spanning H-1 Freeway, into the path of traffic some 20 feet below.

Witnesses said Higa calmly walked away from the scene and was arrested after bystanders followed him and pointed him out to police.

WITHDRAWN FROM FAMILY

Oyama said he understands that personnel who treated Higa at Queen's previously may have diagnosed the young man as suffering from an "induced psychosis" related to drug abuse.

Oyama said Higa began abusing drugs after he was involved in a serious car accident in 2004 but believes his client's mental problems "go a lot further back than that and there is a lot of evidence to support that."

After the car accident, in which a close friend of Higa's was killed, Higa became withdrawn from family and friends, according to Oyama.

"He cut off his phone, he quit school," said the lawyer.

"I think that probably at that point he got into substance abuse," the lawyer said.

Oyama said he does not believe Higa has received mental health services or treatment since his arrest. He is "locked down 23 hours a day" in the special holding unit of O'ahu Community Correctional Center, the lawyer said.

Oyama's office yesterday sent a letter to prison authorities requesting that Higa receive a mental health assessment, said Oyama.

Trial in the case has been tentatively scheduled to begin the last week of March, but is likely to be delayed by pretrial motions.

Higa faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the murder charge.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.