Fatal farm stabbing
ends in a mistrial

The jury could not assign blame
in the drunken altercation

A mistrial has been declared in the case of a Kapolei farm worker accused of stabbing a co-worker to death.

Bailey George Valentine, 26, had been on trial since last week for second-degree murder in the Nov. 5, 2002, death of Oliver Elias, 42, at Aloun Farms, where they both worked.

After deliberating for nearly six hours Friday and Tuesday, jurors told Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Deputy Prosecutor Russell Uehara said Valentine and Elias were drunk when they began fighting at the farm, where both also lived. The victim had accused Valentine of ransacking his room. Other co-workers broke up the fight. But Valentine allegedly went to his room, grabbed two kitchen knives and stabbed Elias in the chest with both. One wound to the heart was fatal.

Deputy public defender William Bento had argued that his client acted in self-defense. He could not be reached for comment.

At least one juror who spoke with the attorneys afterward indicated that the jury was divided as to whether Valentine should be convicted of murder, reckless manslaughter or acquitted for acting in self-defense.

"All jurors had their own opinions and stuck by their opinions," Uehara said.

Valentine had testified that he stabbed the victim in self-defense after Elias attacked him with a golf club.

Witnesses gave various accounts of the stabbing based on their vantage points, Uehara said. One saw two knives; another saw one knife. None of the prosecution witnesses saw the golf club attack.

When he died, Elias had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.

He and Valentine were among a group from Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia, contracted to work at the farm on Farrington Highway.