Arakawa trial to
remain in isles

The trial may be delayed to give
the defense time to gather
its expert witnesses

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By Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com

The manslaughter trial for former Honolulu police officer Clyde Arakawa will be held in Honolulu and not out of state, a judge ruled yesterday.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn rejected the request by Arakawa's attorney, Michael Ostendorp, to move the criminal trial to Oregon, where the retired officer of 25 years now lives.

But yesterday's hearing was not a complete loss for the defense. In a separate motion to delay the trial, Ahn granted Ostendorp one week to submit letters from his expert witnesses to show when they will be available for trial and if they will testify, among other things.

Ostendorp asked for the delay because his accident reconstruction expert and at least two other experts from California made other commitments when Arakawa's funds faltered. The hearing before Ahn will reconvene Thursday afternoon.

Arakawa is charged with manslaughter for allegedly recklessly causing the death of 19-year-old Dana Ambrose while he was intoxicated.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle argued that the delay would inconvenience everyone from the prosecution's mainland experts, who "are ready and willing to testify," to the Ambrose family, who is in the process of making arrangements to attend the trial. He said the trial date was "a firm trial" agreed upon by the defense and prosecution.

"'Firm' means exactly that, and 'firm' means Sept. 17," he said. "We're ready to go."

Carlisle argued that even if the judge granted a delay, the new trial would be "contingent on funds," which have been a problem for Arakawa.

A request by Arakawa's attorney to turn his client over to the Public Defender's Office was denied by a state judge last month. Some $60,000 has been spent on legal fees, and the defense expects it will cost at least $84,000 more for expert and legal fees.

Ostendorp requested the change of venue Monday because of a barrage of "detrimental pretrial publicity." He said it would be faster to select a jury in Oregon than in Honolulu. Carlisle acknowledged that media attention has been significant but said higher-profile cases, such as the murder trial of Byran Uyesugi, were able to be carried out here.

Ostendorp said the earliest his experts would be available would be January.

Ahn said she would consider delaying the trial but wanted assurances that "these people are completely unavailable (until January)."

Ostendorp said he would also need more time to prepare himself for cross-examining the state's expert witnesses if Arakawa cannot come up with the funds to pay for the experts. But he later assured the court that his experts "will be available and will be there."