Witness’s aside to Ireland
By Dana Williams
suspect prompts jury poll
Star-BulletinHILO -- The judge left the courtroom and the jury was filing out. John Gonsalves was stepping from the witness stand.
He looked toward his younger brother, Frank Pauline Jr., raised his hand to his chest and spoke in a soft voice.
"I love you no matter what. Search your heart."
At the request of defense attorney Clifford Hunt, jurors were called back into the room one by one when court reconvened. Judge Riki May Amano asked if they saw or heard Gonsalves do or say anything after the court recessed.
Most said they heard nothing. A few said they heard something but weren't sure what it was or whom it was directed to. One said he couldn't hear the judge's question.
The jurors were reminded that anything they heard during the recess could not be considered evidence.
"It's a highly charged, emotional case," Hunt said. "And I think that prosecutors have a duty to tell the witness, especially if it's relatives of Mr. Pauline, 'Don't say anything, even whisper anything in front of the jury or in this courtroom.'"
The prosecutors agreed, and Amano reminded all attorneys to tell their witnesses the importance of following court rules.
Pauline, 26, is on trial for murder, sexual assault and kidnapping in the 1991 killing of Dana Ireland. Ireland, 23, was riding her bicycle in Puna when she was struck by a car, taken from the scene, beaten, raped and left to die near a remote fishing trail.
Two other suspects, brothers Albert Ian and Shawn Schweitzer, are scheduled to be tried later this year.
Gonsalves, 32, cooperated with police who were investigating the Ireland murder. He said his younger brother confessed to the crime in a 1994 phone call from prison. Pauline told him Ireland appeared in nightmares "begging him to please help her," Gonsalves testified.At the time of the murder investigation, Gonsalves had a pending drug case, and Hunt asked him if he went to police to get a deal from prosecutors.
"So, this was your civic duty to tell the police what you knew, correct?" Hunt asked.
"How would you feel if it was your daughter?" Gonsalves responded.
"I'm asking you the questions, sir," Hunt said.
"I did it because I'm human and I have a heart," Gonsalves said.
Also yesterday, Amano said she would not allow testimony from forensic dental scientist Norman Sperber, who would have testified about a bite mark on Ireland's left breast.
In his original report, Sperber said Pauline had been ruled out as the source of the bite mark. But when Sperber learned Ireland's body was swollen with fluids administered in the hospital, raising her weight 30 to 40 pounds, he revised his conclusions.
In a second report, he said Pauline could have been the source of the bite mark.
Amano said since Sperber used a distorted picture of the bite mark to make his comparisons, and since Ireland's body was distorted by the fluids, Sperber's conclusions would not be sufficient as evidence.
Kenneth Baker, director of the accident investigation division at Northwestern University's Traffic Institute, testified that a Volkswagen "bug" was likely involved in the crash with Ireland.
His testimony is scheduled to continue Monday.
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