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XEROX SHOOTINGS TRIAL

By Ronen Zilberman, Associated Press
Dr. Park Dietz testified today during the murder trial
of Byran Uyesugi, in the center of the photo below.

Expert testifies
in Uyesugi defense

He says a delusional disorder
affected Uyesugi's behavior

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Byran Uyesugi suffered from a delusional disorder when he shot and killed seven coworkers at the Xerox warehouse Nov. 2, a nationally recognized psychiatrist testified today.

As a result of the delusional disorder, Uyesugi "lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct," said Dr. Park Dietz, who has testified for the government in high profile cases including the Jeffrey Dahmer, Unabomber and John DuPont murder trials.

Dietz is a key defense witness. The defense is trying to prove Uyesugi suffered from a mental disorder so severe that he was unable to know right from wrong. They argue Uyesugi should be found not guilty because of insanity or be convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Dietz, who examined Uyesugi in March at the request of the defense, said Uyesugi suffered from a delusional disorder, persecutory type that fell under four categories.

People who suffer from delusional disorders have one of the worst symptoms people can suffer from, Dietz said. They have a fixed unwavering false belief that "no proof or evidence can touch," Dietz said. But unlike schizophrenics, people with delusional disorder can "act normal, speak normal and think logically" in all other areas not related to the delusion. People with delusional disorders can "fool so many others into thinking they're normal," he said.

By Ronen Zilberman, Associated Press
Flanking Uyesugi were, from left, attorney Rodney Ching and
attorney Jerel Fonseca. Uyesugi is on trial for the slayings of
seven co-workers at the Xerox warehouse in Honolulu.

For up to 12 years, Uyesugi believed certain coworkers at Xerox were conspiring to "purposefully and maliciously" torment, harass, make his life miserable to a point where it made it impossible for him to do his work. He also believed coworker Jason Balatico was a undercover government agent and that federal agents, either FBI or CIA, bugged every car he owned and came to his home to mutilate his fish, steal his woodwork, and tampered with his gun collection.

Dietz also described how Uyesugi believed he was being persecuted by other co-workers. Dietz said Uyesugi believed Ron Kawamae was trying to make him look bad to his friends and also believed that a nonexistent Xerox lawyer was leading a conspiracy against him.

"If it were not for these delusions, he (Uyesugi) certainly would not have killed any of these seven people," Dietz testified.

Last week the prosecution put three court-appointed mental health experts on the stand. Those experts agreed Uyesugi was suffering from a mental disorder but said he was capable of knowing that his actions were wrong.

Before Dietz took the stand Judge Marie Milks limited Dietz' testimony to his opinions and observations of Uyesugi obtained prior to trial. The state today asked that any statements made by Uyesugi to Dietz at an interview yesterday be stricken. The statements included Uyesugi's comments to Dietz that he was "only joking" when he vehemently objected to being trained on the more sophisticated 5100 copy machine and his impressions of testimony by the state's witnesses.

Jerel Fonseca, Uyesugi's attorney, argued that Dietz was trying to determine if Uyesugi is able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the shootings. Dietz would testify that Uyesugi still denies that he suffers from a mental disorder, Fonseca said.

Rev. David Kaupu, a chaplain at Kamehameha Schools, also testified that he was asked by Hiroyuki Uyesugi, Byran's father, about six or seven years ago to bless the Uyesugis' Nuuanu home and its residence.

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Xerox killings