Suspect in attack on
officer fit for trial

Daniel Vesper, accused of attempting to murder police officer Jeffrey Omai by running him over with a stolen van, is fit to go to trial and was not insane at the time of the offense, a panel has found.

The conclusions reached by two psychologists and a psychiatrist appointed by the courts will be considered at a hearing Monday. Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall is to decide Vesper's criminal responsibility at the time of the alleged offenses and whether he is fit to go to trial.

Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter said the reports speak for themselves, and that all the examiners concluded that Vesper was legally responsible for his behavior.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Hawk declined to comment.

Vesper was on probation for auto theft, reckless driving and resisting orders to stop when he allegedly ran over Omai on Dec. 2 with a van stolen from a newspaper delivery woman the day before. Omai was among a group of officers attempting to arrest Vesper after they spotted him in the parking lot of Honolulu Community College.

Omai, who suffered head and internal injuries, is recovering and expected to return to work eventually, a police spokeswoman has said.

Vesper's defense had requested the psychiatric examination after meetings following his Dec. 3 arrest revealed that he had been hearing voices telling him what to do. His trial, last set for April, was suspended when the court ordered that he be examined.

Vesper, 43, contends he first began hearing voices after he was struck in the head with a golf club and knocked unconscious in a November robbery.

He was placed on suicide watch at the Oahu Community Correctional Center after his arrest, but it wasn't until Dec. 17 that he began to complain about hearing voices calling his name and keeping him awake at night, psychiatrist Gene Altman noted.

When asked what the voices told him, Vesper replied, "people screaming all different things, I can't say."

Vesper has never been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, but did receive outpatient mental health treatment from 2000 until he was arrested. Over the past few years, he has been diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder, anxiety and depression.

At the time of the offenses, Vesper's ability to decide between right and wrong and act according to law "were not substantially impaired, except perhaps by voluntary intoxication with drugs and alcohol," wrote psychologist Tom Cunningham. "I saw no evidence that his actions constituted anything but purposeful antisocial behavior."

He diagnosed Vesper at the time of their examination as malingering -- faking or grossly exaggerating symptoms of a mental disorder.

Vesper also complained to Cunningham about not being able to breathe for "fear of a 20-to-life sentence."