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XEROX SHOOTINGS
Uyesugi won’t
testify in trial
He tells the judge he
By Debra Barayuga
understands his rights
and won't take the stand
and Suzanne Tswei
Star-BulletinAccused Xerox gunman Byran Uyesugi will not take the witness stand in his own defense.
As the defense attorneys prepared to wrap up their case, Uyesugi told Circuit Court Judge Marie Milks this morning that he understands his rights and has decided not to testify in his trial.
The last scheduled defense witness told the jury earlier in the morning that Uyesugi was suffering from an extreme mental or emotional disturbance when he shot seven co-workers in November.
Uyesugi's records suggest that not only was he misperceiving reality, but reacting to his misperceptions under extreme emotional disturbance, said Dr. Robert Marvit, a Honolulu psychiatrist. That emotional disturbance fueled his belief system, as shown by the absence of remorse over the shootings and any belief that what he had done was inappropriate, Marvit said.
If the defense can show Uyesugi was acting under the legal standard of "extreme mental and emotional disturbance," Uyesugi could be convicted under the lesser charge of manslaughter rather than first degree murder. The defense also contends Uyesugi should be found not guilty because of insanity.
Marvit also agreed with two other defense witnesses that Uyesugi suffered from a delusional disorder that over time reduced what he felt were available choices he had to deal with his anguish.
"(The shootings) seemed to be an inevitable conclusion," Marvit said.
The prosecution is expected to have psychologist Harold Hall take the stand later today as rebuttal witness.
Yesterday, two mental health experts hired by the defense testified that Uyesugi wrestled with the question of whether or not to shoot his co-workers two days before and up to the moment he fired the shots that killed the men last November.
After he decided he was going to kill the people in his work group, he went out and bought extra ammunition because he thought about running out of bullets.
"He slept well the night before, woke up the next morning and nothing was out of the ordinary," said Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, reading from notes prepared by psychiatrists Park Dietz and Daryl Matthews.
Asked by the psychiatrists in examinations why he shot Ron Kawamae, Jason Balatico, Ford Kanehira, Melvin Lee, Ron Kataoka, John Sakamoto and Peter Mark, Uyesugi replied, "They were just messing with me too much." He later said he felt the victims "deserved to die."
Uyesugi's account elicited during detailed cross-examination by Carlisle provided a glimpse of Uyesugi's state of mind during the days leading to the shooting and afterward.
Both doctors concluded that he suffered from a persecutory type of delusional disorder, and that the longstanding delusions "substantially impaired" his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct on Nov. 2.
"It's my opinion he was not capable of knowing how wrong his actions were on the day he killed those people," Dietz testified.
"He has no concept that this is a terrible thing he's done," even to this day, Dietz said. "He doesn't get it."
But Dietz and Matthews felt that Uyesugi was able to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. If it weren't for the delusions, the shootings would not have happened, Matthews added.
Three doctors appointed by the court earlier testified that Uyesugi knew right from wrong when he went on the killing spree, despite a serious mental illness characterized by fixed, false beliefs.
Dietz yesterday testified that people who suffer from delusional disorders can act normally in other aspects of their lives not related to the delusions.
Xerox killings
