Deliberations begin in
slaying of Halawa girlAccusations focus on her uncle
and her half sister's boyfriend
Jurors began deliberating yesterday in the murder trial of Christopher Aki, who is accused of beating 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal with a pipe while under the effects of "ice" and leaving her to die at the Keaiwa Heiau State Park.
Prosecutors contend Aki is a master of the art of deception -- lying repeatedly to the girl's family and to police that he had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance and death before finally confessing to the crime.
The defense alleges the state is trying to make Aki a poster boy in the state's war against crystal methamphetamine, or "ice." They accuse police of bungling the case by failing to recover or analyze evidence and thoroughly investigate every lead that surfaced, including the alleged involvement of the girl's uncle Dennis Cacatian.
Kahealani's decomposing body was discovered at the Aiea state park Dec. 13, 2002 -- three days after she was last seen at the Halawa housing complex where she lived. She was the half sister of Aki's longtime girlfriend, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga.
Jurors can find Aki, 21, not guilty, guilty of second-degree murder or guilty of the lesser offense of reckless manslaughter. Second-degree murder is punishable with a life term of imprisonment with parole, while manslaughter carries a 20-year prison term.
The evidence the defense claims police failed to recover included a large rock with Kahealani's blood on it, teeth fragments and one of her earrings. No one knows what other evidence was lost to the elements that could have corroborated Aki's story, said Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins.
"This is CSI Tijuana here," he said. "They control what was missed, overlooked -- it's lack of evidence that supports reasonable doubt."
Aki claimed at trial that Kahealani's uncle, Cacatian, killed her in a rage after learning she had confided in Aki that her uncle was touching her inappropriately. Aki testified he saw Cacatian standing over the girl with a knife as she lay on the ground bleeding from her neck and later saw him bludgeon her with a large rock. Aki claimed he falsely confessed because Cacatian threatened to harm him and his family and because he blamed himself for taking Kahealani, whom he considered a sister, to the park in the first place.
"He was scared out of his mind because he saw this psycho do this to his sister," Eddins said. "He did it here, he'd do it to other members of his family."
"There is no trace evidence whatsoever, or physical, objective evidence in this case that Chris committed the crime -- zero -- and that alone is reasonable doubt," Eddins said.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle argued that there is no physical evidence linking Cacatian to Kahealani's slaying other than Aki's statements, Carlisle said.
He argued that blood found in Aki's blue Neon corroborates Aki's story that after he struck the girl repeatedly with a pipe, he tossed the weapon onto the front floor mat and later the back floor mat and washed his hands of her blood while sitting in the driver's seat.
Had the rock the defense claims killed Kahealani actually been dropped on the girl as Aki demonstrated, her head would have been "pulverized," Carlisle said.
Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall told the jury yesterday that Cacatian was not available as a witness and that they should not make any inferences from his nonappearance.
Cacatian had invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify last week, but not in the jury's presence.