Oahu men convicted
in gunfire spree

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A man accused of firing more than 100 shots inside and outside his Hawaii Kai apartment, including at police officers, was convicted yesterday of first-degree attempted murder and faces life imprisonment without parole.

A jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 days before finding Peter Takeda, 39, guilty of attempting to kill more than one individual while holed up in his apartment for five hours on Aug. 7, 2000. He also was convicted of using a firearm in the commission of the offense.

Co-defendant Gerven Sorino, 25, charged with being an accomplice to attempted murder, was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He faces 10 years in prison with a mandatory minimum of three years and four months as a repeat offender.

Takeda's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, said he was "dumbfounded" at the verdict and expects to appeal.

"It's difficult to believe the jury was in the same courtroom as the evidence," he said.

Eddins argued that Takeda was reckless but did not intend to kill anyone, much less any police officers. If Takeda was guilty, it was for recklessly endangering people's lives, not attempted murder.

Takeda had taken too much pain medication and was "delusional, desperate and petrified," believing his estranged wife had hired assassins to kill him, Eddins said.

Deputy Prosecutor Lucianne Khalaf said Takeda made his intentions clear and admitted to shooting at people outside his apartment in self-defense because he believed they were assassins out to get him.

For the defense to characterize Takeda's actions as reckless endangering ignores what the evidence showed, she said.

Three of the officers who were pinned down behind a car on the street heard the bullets whistling over their heads, ricocheting in the streets and the homes behind them and feared for their lives, she said. "But for the grace of God, no one was killed," Khalaf said.

Takeda was so convinced he had killed people that he asked how many had died when he finally surrendered to police, she said.

Sorino's attorney, Nelson Goo, described his client as the "hero," saying he had gone to Takeda's apartment in response to his friend's pleas for help, but things got out of hand.

Goo said Sorino tackled Takeda and disarmed him after a police sharpshooter shot Takeda in the neck, grazing him.

While Sorino gave statements to police after the shooting, saying he had assisted Takeda in reloading, he later denied it, saying he was questioned under pressure.

Sorino, who is not a U.S. citizen, faces deportation to the Philippines.

Sentencing for both men was scheduled for Jan. 29.