DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, left, and defendant Clyde Arakawa, second from left, listened yesterday as defense attorney Michael Ostendorp presented closing arguments.

Jury resumes
deliberations in ex-cop
Arakawa’s trial

If convicted he could face
up to 20 years for manslaughter

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Did former police officer Clyde Arakawa know that drinking and speeding could kill and did Dana Ambrose contribute to her own death when Arakawa's Thunderbird collided with Ambrose's Honda Civic at the intersection of Pali Highway and School Street on Oct. 7, 2000?

Those are among the questions the jury is considering as it resumed deliberations today in Arakawa's manslaughter trial.

"He knew perfectly well how dangerous it was to drink and drive, but he didn't care," city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said yesterday during closing arguments.

"He drove out of the parking lot and into Dana Ambrose."

Defense attorney Michael Ostendorp told jurors that the prosecution's eyewitnesses were unreliable, that evidence had been mishandled and tampered with and that Ambrose was responsible for her own death.

"One thing for sure, Clyde Arakawa did not cause Ms. Ambrose's death. She was speeding and running a red light," Ostendorp said.

COURTESY OF THE AMBROSE FAMILY Dana Ambrose and boyfriend Willy Aspry posed for a photo in this undated picture. He said it was difficult sitting through the trial and hearing the defense suggest that Ambrose had been taking drugs.

The jury got the case at 4:30 p.m. yesterday and resumed deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

The key questions are whether the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Arakawa was drunk, speeding and ran a red light when his car hit Ambrose's car, and whether his actions were "reckless," a legal standard that means the defendant consciously disregarded "substantial and unjustifiable risk."

If the jury finds that way, Arakawa could be convicted of manslaughter, with a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

The jury instead could find Arakawa guilty of first-degree negligent homicide -- of causing the victim's death by driving the car under the influence of alcohol. That carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Jurors could also return a verdict of negligent homicide in the second or third degree, defined as acting in a negligent manner and simple negligence, respectively.

Penalties of verdicts are not disclosed to jurors.

Family members and close friends of both Arakawa and Ambrose attended each day of testimony in the two-week trial.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Defense attorney Michael Ostendorp, in closing arguments yesterday in the Clyde Arakawa case, showed jurors an aerial photo of where Dana Ambrose was killed.

Ambrose's boyfriend, Willy Aspry, said it was especially difficult during closing arguments when defense attorney Ostendorp suggested Ambrose may have been taking drugs, though it had never been mentioned before during the trial, and no alcohol was in her blood.

"It's hard watching the defense. It seems like he's using the weapon of confusion because he doesn't have anything else to use," Aspry said.

"She (Ambrose) had a heart of gold," Aspry said, as his eyes filled with tears. "She was not a judgmental person."

During his closing arguments, Ostendorp tried to discredit prosecution witnesses and said Arakawa's body eliminates alcohol faster than average because he is a seasoned drinker.

Carlisle showed jurors a composite picture of Arakawa and 11 beers and a shot. Then he showed security camera video of Arakawa drinking at the Side Street Inn.

Carlisle also brought up the 1992 incident in which he said Arakawa "drove to a stranger's home and trespassed when he was falling-down drunk."

Carlisle said Arakawa "knew he was a risk and decided not to stop drinking."