A state circuit judge heard closing arguments yesterday in the case of a toddler tossed onto a Honolulu freeway, with the defense arguing that the child was dead already at the time.

Cyrus Belt, 23 months, was thrown from the Miller Street pedestrian overpass on Jan. 17, 2008, and landed in the busy afternoon traffic. Motorists testified they could not stop in time.

In the nonjury trial, defense attorney Randy Oyama tried to establish reasonable doubt, suggesting that defendant Matthew Higa was handed the dead baby by someone else, perhaps wrapped in some kind of packaging.

Oyama suggests the real culprit could be Shane Mizusawa, the former live-in boyfriend of Belt's mother, Nancy Chanco, and the last person seen with Belt when anyone could confirm the toddler was alive.

“;And how could he give it to Matt? Well, he could just drive up to him, give him the package and drive away,”; Oyama said.

Alternatively, Oyama said, the culprit could have been Clifton Higa, no relation to Matthew, a friend of Mizusawa's who was with him at the time.

In suggesting Belt was already dead, Oyama is relying on witnesses who said they thought the toddler was a doll, perhaps, not a live child.

Another witness said he saw Higa carrying what he thought was a package when Higa reached the overpass.

But Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said the witnesses made assumptions about what they saw because they could not imagine anyone throwing a live child off the overpass.

He called the defense's proposition “;an imaginary scenario woven together by guesswork and speculation.”;

Carlisle said Higa's admitted use of methamphetamine explains how he could kill Belt, his bizarre behavior and contradictory statements afterward.

Higa, 25, on trial for second-degree murder, did not testify in his own defense.

Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario hopes to render a verdict by next week. He scheduled a hearing for Thursday.

Oyama said Higa does not remember much about that day on the overpass and was confused during the police interview.

The judge has in evidence the statement Higa gave police detectives the day after Belt's death.

In an interview with a detective, Higa was asked whether the baby was crying and moving its arms and legs, and Higa responded, “;Yeah.”;