Mother describes
how police shot son

Faleupolu Sua had called police
to try to protect him and others

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

Faleupolu Sua called police to her Waipahu home in February 1997 to prevent her drunken son and others from getting hurt.

But by the time the evening was over, her teen-age son lay in a pool of blood, shot at least four times by a police officer within a few feet of her.

"I heard police say, 'Everybody move away,' there would be open fire," Sua told jurors today as she shed tears. "They shot my son. I saw it happen right in front of me.

"I ran to him. He fell on his face. . . .

Robert Sua, 20, is charged with attempted murder in the first degree for allegedly trying to stab the police officer who shot him.

He is also charged with terroristic threatening of five police officers.

Witnesses have testified in the Circuit Court trial that Robert Sua chased police holding a knife in each hand and shouting, "I'm going to take me out a cop."

While the state says he tried to kill an officer, the defense says Robert Sua was depressed over his own and his brothers' criminal history. He wanted to commit suicide and was egging police to shoot him, said Deputy Public Defender David Hayakawa.

Faleupolu Sua said that her son told her before the police came that he wanted to take his own life and yelled several times at police, "Shoot me, I want to die."

One police officer testified that he saw Robert Sua fall on top of the police officer who shot him, then bring his arm up and try to stab the officer in the chest.

"He didn't fall on top of anybody," Faleupolu Sua said. "I didn't see him try to stab anybody."

Robert Sua is scheduled to testify today.

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Laulusa’s family sues,
says police too forceful
for shooting

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Police created the confrontation that led to officers shooting Rodney Laulusa to death Jan. 22 at Palolo Valley Housing, says a Laulusa family attorney.

James Krueger, representing Laulusa's uncle, Paipai Falemalu, in a federal lawsuit, contends that Laulusa didn't advance on police but rather a semicircle of officers walked toward him.

Although Laulusa held no hostages and had hurt no one, police failed to use other methods to stop him, such as using Mace, using nets or asking a family member to talk to him, Krueger said. He said, "No pun intended, but this was overkill."

The case prompted a several-months-long investigation by city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle. Police said Laulusa waved butcher knives and lunged at them.

Three officers who shot Laulusa couldn't be proved unjustified under law, Carlisle said yesterday. Police Chief Lee Donohue said he could not comment on the case.

But questions remain if police used excessive force to stop Laulusa. A wound ballistic expert will help to determine if police kept shooting at Laulusa after he fell to the ground, Carlisle said.

Hawaii law says in a deadly confrontation, "to require officers to choose the least intrusive alternative would require them to exercise superhuman judgment," Carlisle said.

Police can use deadly force against deadly force, under Hawaii law. It is against public policy for police to retreat and abandon their duty, Carlisle added.

"However, concluding that the initial decision to fire provides insufficient evidence for a murder or attempted-murder charge doesn't end my inquiry," he said. "The officers were only justified in using reasonable force, not excessive force."