Trial of alleged
Mililani rapist ends
in mistrial

A question by a prosecutor
about evidence ruled inadmissible
leads to the ruling

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

If James Thompson, the alleged "Mililani rapist," is tried again after a mistrial was declared yesterday, the state says it will present evidence next time to identify what it says was pubic hair found on Thompson's car floor.

The failure to do so this time before asking Thompson a question about the hairs led Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe to declare a mistrial.

Thompson, 38, is accused of sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted sexual assault connected to five girls, all 14-16, in the Mililani area between January and September 1997.

Defense attorney Myles Breiner said he will move to place Thompson on supervised release and to dismiss the case. He said Thompson's right to due process has been violated.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Paul Wong showed Thompson, who took the stand, a piece of tape with what he called pubic hair from Thompson's car floor and asked him to explain it.

But all evidence regarding any hair had been suppressed because testing was not completed in time to be used in the trial, Breiner said.

The tape was sealed in a plastic bag that had been entered as a state exhibit labeled only "tape-lifting from floor of Pontiac Bonneville," Wong said.

Breiner asked for a mistrial. He called Wong's actions "intentional misconduct . . . He suggested to the jury something that didn't exist. No way was this a good faith question . . . There was no basis in fact."

Wong said expert testimony was not necessary to establish that the tape contained pubic hair but he will present it next time.

"Anybody who has cleaned their bathroom can definitely distinguish head hair from pubic hair," Wong said.

Breiner disagreed, saying microscopic testing is necessary to identify any type of body hair. "They simply screwed up," Breiner said.

Wong disagreed with Watanabe's decision.

"We think it seems a bit extreme," Wong said. "No answer was given, and the jury was instructed not to consider it.

"Even if it was an improper question, all the curative steps were already taken."

Wong said if there is a new trial, he will present evidence that a fiber analysis showed three strands of hair found in the car "were consistent" with the hair of one of the victims. The tests were done too late to be submitted as evidence during the trial.

Wong said he will "fight tooth and nail to prevent any dismissal.

"We think he's a very dangerous man, so we will try to get justice in this case," Wong said.

The five girls identified Thompson as their assailant. Wong said DNA tests of sperm on one girl's shirt matched Thompson's. But it also would match about a dozen others, according to experts, Wong said. "Out of that dozen, how many actually own gold Pontiacs, match the description (given by the girls) and would actually be identified by the victims?" He added that clothing recovered from Thompson also matched descriptions from the girls.

During the trial Thompson's parents and a friend testified that he was with them during three of the incidents.

Breiner told jurors that the victims misidentified Thompson because of trauma, time lapse between the crimes and the suspect lineups and media exposure.

Breiner said "police rushed to judgment" after they arrested Thompson by releasing his photo to the public and labeling him as the "Mililani rapist."