Arakawa defense
expert says
Ambrose speeding

The witness also says that she
was not wearing a seat belt

---

By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Dana Ambrose might have survived a fatal accident had she not been speeding, running a red light, and if she had been wearing her seat belt, attorney Michael Ostendorp suggested as the defense in Clyde Arakawa's manslaughter trial began its case.

Ostendorp had waived opening statements on the first day of the trial and instead spoke just before he began calling witnesses yesterday.

Prosecutors said Arakawa, a former police officer, was drunk, speeding and that he ran a red light with his Thunderbird, which collided with a Honda Civic driven by 19-year-old Ambrose on Oct. 7, 2000.

Ostendorp said his accident reconstruction expert will show Ambrose was also speeding and that Arakawa had a yellow light and Ambrose had a red light at the time of the crash.

Ostendorp stated that even though Arakawa was drinking with a friend before the crash, he ate all their pupus. He said evidence in the case had been mishandled and had been missing.

The first expert witness called by the defense said her analysis of autopsy photos and the wreckage of the Honda Civic shows Ambrose was not wearing a seat belt.

"Had she been traveling the speed limit with her seat belt on, she would have probably survived," biomedical engineer Laura Liptai testified yesterday afternoon.

Liptai said because of the extent of damage to Ambrose's car, she concluded Ambrose was traveling at 45 to 50 mph when she entered the intersection at Pali Highway and School Street. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour on that portion of School Street.

Liptai also testified that the force of the Civic's air bag combined with Ambrose's short stature could snap her head back, causing the fatal injury.

"If you are unbelted and you are a short-statured female, you really are vulnerable with the air bag."

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, whose expert showed the Honda was hit from the side, asked Liptai whether being hit from the side by a car would cause more serious injury than being hit from the front. She responded, "Generally, yes."

Both sides stipulated yesterday that Ambrose had no alcohol in her blood at the time of the crash.

She also said the extent of Ambrose's injuries shows she was speeding.

Liptai also testified that Honda Civics have black boxes that would provide information on the car's speed before and after impact and whether seat belts were worn.

But Ostendorp did not ask her about what happened to the black box.

Also yesterday, the judge dismissed a juror for talking during testimony by a prosecution witness.

Another juror had complained that the dismissed juror made comments during the testimony and that two or three other jurors had to tell her to be quiet.

Ostendorp objected, calling the juror a "snitch," and noted that even after each juror was polled individually, no one else corroborated her story.

He told Judge Karen Ahn that she should recuse herself because she kept ruling on the side of the prosecution.

Ahn said that his contention was "ridiculous."

After the state rested its case yesterday, Ostendorp also asked the court to acquit his client.

Ahn denied the motion, saying enough evidence was provided so that a reasonable juror might find Arakawa guilty.