Changing Hawaii

By Diane Yukihiro Chang

Monday, August 11, 1997

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How ‘system’
revictimized raped woman

LAST week's no-contest plea by Orrel K. Lui Jr. to multiple counts of burglary, kidnapping and sexual assault infuriated "Lani" (not her real name), who was robbed and raped by him exactly a year ago today. Until recently she has swallowed the pain and anger of being a crime victim, not wanting to talk about what the former Halawa prison guard did to her on that Sunday afternoon.

Seeing his face on TV newscasts last week, however, broke the dam. Lani, 46, now wants to speak out, and she is livid.

Naturally, she hates the criminal himself -- how he ripped open her latched screen door, raped her, and then ransacked her secluded Tantalus home for valuables. He stole her purse, about 30 credit cards, jewelry and her sense of security.

But Lani is also upset about the "system," various government and private-sector entities that she thought were supposed to be on her side in bringing the culprit to justice and giving her peace of mind. They included:

The police. Three days after attacking Lani, Lui was arrested by HPD for shoplifting. His photo was taken but it wasn't shown to Lani until two weeks later. "HPD said it had to use up all the film in the camera before developing the roll," she says. Also, Lani was asked to identify Lui from snapshots instead of seeing him at police headquarters because, she was told, having a line-up of suspects would "cost the taxpayers too much money." Suspect ringers are paid $25 apiece to participate, according to a police spokesman.

The Sex Abuse Treatment Center. Lani was troubled by the SATC physician's advice to "return in 3-4 months" for an HIV blood test if she was concerned about having been infected by the rapist. But this advice did not allay her fears of possible exposure to the HIV virus. As a state Health Department worker familiar with the AIDS epidemic, Lani's understanding of HIV required more immediate action -- like a baseline blood test.

Credit-card companies. The night of her attack, Lani began notifying credit-card companies that her cards had been stolen. But those "stop payment" requests didn't kick in until about 48 hours later. So Lani panicked when she began getting bills for thousands of dollars charged by Lui. Even though she was not liable for any of those payments, she was still stressed by receiving the statements.

Retailers. Since most retail establishments do not ask people for identification when they use credit cards, Lui went on a buying spree. Requesting a picture ID as part of processing a credit card charge should be standard procedure by merchants, Lani believes.

The prosecutor's office. Lani had been working with city Deputy Prosecutor Lori Wada for several months, when then-Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro decided -- in his last days in office -- to appoint another deputy to the case. Lani made such a fuss, since Wada was familiar with the incident and Lani was familiar with Wada, that new Prosecutor Peter Carlisle returned her case to Wada.

FOR Lani, the only feeling more intense than her anger is her fear. Her home in Tantalus is now fitted with steel security doors and dead bolts. She cautiously screens all her telephone calls and has only recently ventured out to public places with her friends.

All that may change, however, if Lui gets a light sentence in October. Then he could be out on parole in just a handful of years. Lani is worried that, beside hurting other women in the community, Lui might come back to say hello.

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Last Friday: Part One.