Hawaiian accent cited as mainland jury finds man not guilty of murder
POSTED: Sunday, May 09, 2010
| This story has been corrected. See below. |
A mainland jury found a man not guilty of killing a former Big Island resident after his defense attorney argued the woman's last words could not be understood because of her Hawaiian accent.
Maris Wilkerson, 45, made a phone call as she was fighting for her life that was recorded on an answering machine at an auto parts store.
In the recording, Wilkerson's voice is heard saying, “;I don't want to die, Aaron.”;
Aaron Spriggs, Wilkerson's live-in boyfriend, was accused of shooting her three times during a domestic dispute in Prince George's County Maryland on June 26.
But Spriggs' attorney argued that Wilkerson never said his client's name, blaming the confusion on her Hawaiian accent.
Family members of Wilkerson, who traveled to Maryland from the Big Island for the trial, were still in shock yesterday after the jury found Spriggs innocent of all charges on Friday.
Wilkerson's sister Shirley Filoteo, who was present for the two-week trial, said she ran at Spriggs after the verdict, shouting, “;You killed my sister, how can you get away with it?”;
Sheriffs had to carry her out.
“;I just fell to the ground and started crying,”; she said. “;My heart just went drop.”;
The jury deliberated for about 5 1/2 hours.
Filoteo said everyone expected Spriggs to be convicted. Besides the tape recording, the bullets that killed Wilkerson matched bullet casings found in the house that she and Spriggs shared and the state presented evidence that contradicted Spriggs' alibi.
After the verdict came back, people started screaming and everybody was “;just in shock,”; she said. Even the judge appeared surprised, she said.
Family members said Wilkerson lived on the mainland for about 15 years and did not speak pidgin English.
“;She talked like them. She hung around blacks. She talked that black English,”; Filoteo said.
Wilkerson was born in Honolulu attended Hilo High School and Pahoa High School and lived on the Big Island until she left for the mainland, family members said. Her father, two of her three sons, a daughter, five sisters and a brother still live on the Big Island.
On Friday, the police department called Filoteo to tell her Spriggs would be released from custody in a few hours.
Alvina Brown, another sister of Wilkerson's who was at the trial, said she was heartbroken and hurt.
“;The person that killed my sister is running the streets now without no consequence. I don't think that's fair for the family,”; she said. “;How could that verdict be because all the evidence had pointed to that person?”;
Brown said the defense attorney did not bring up Wilkerson's accent during the trial and presented no evidence of an accent, but only mentioned it during closing arguments.
Filoteo said Wilkerson had dialed out from her cell phone as she was fighting for her life, recording her last moments on a 38-minute voice message to an auto parts store.
The sisters said Spriggs also could be heard telling her to “;hurry up and die”; on the recording.
Family members said they believed the jury was afraid of Spriggs because he apparently was a drug dealer.
Wilkerson had been trying to get Spriggs out of her house because he was cheating on her, her sisters said.
He also had taken out life insurance on Wilkerson about two weeks before she died.
Filoteo said the defense presented only three witnesses, all cousins of Spriggs, compared with 35 state witnesses. She said the prosecution had a strong case with experts testifying that Spriggs' cell phone showed him traveling when he said he was asleep, catching him in a lie.
She believes that God has a larger plan. “;Maybe it was too easy for him to be in jail,”; she said.
“;Everybody's just very devastated,”; Brown said.
“;She was a beautiful person,”; Filoteo said. “;She was an independent woman.”;
The family is considering filing a civil suit in her death.
|
