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

Fauatea, 25, is charged with an apparently unprovoked murderous knife attack of Waianae High School teacher Asa Yamashita February 27 at Ewa Town Center.

Circuit Judge Derrick Chan set a preliminary trial date of May 11, 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 Oahu 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 Fauatea Friday 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.

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.

"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," Young 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.