Arakawa wins motion
to suppress

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Star-Bulletin staff

Prosecutors will not be able to present details of crash victim Dana Ambrose's personal life, except for the night she died, when the manslaughter trial of former police officer Clyde Arakawa begins next month.

Arakawa is accused of killing Ambrose on Oct. 7, 2000, when his Ford Thunderbird broadsided her Honda Civic after he had been drinking.

Arakawa's defense attorney had filed a motion to suppress evidence of Ambrose's life to prevent the prosecution from "creating an aura about her," said Jim Fulton, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

During a hearing this morning, Circuit Court Judge Karen Ahn partially granted the motion. She will allow the prosecution to present evidence relevant to the events on Oct. 7, Fulton said.

Jury selection has been scheduled for Jan. 15 and prosecutors will begin presenting evidence at 9 a.m. on Jan. 29.

Earlier, Ahn ruled the prosecution will be able to refer to a November 1992, incident when Arakawa was found in a stranger's house with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. She also ruled that the jury will be allowed to visit the scene of the collision and view a videotape from the security camera at Side Street Inn in which Arakawa can be seen drinking hours before the collision with Ambrose.