Closing arguments

A Circuit Court jury will return Monday for deliberations in State Department special agent Christopher Deedy’s murder trial after the prosecution and defense urged the jurors Thursday to consider the type of law enforcement officer they want in the community.

City Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa asked the panelists whether they want a law enforcement officer in Hono­lulu and Waikiki who sees a "fistfight" and thinks he can fire fatal shots.

"That’s not the kind of law enforcement officer we want," she said.

But Deedy’s attorney Karl Blanke said his client, as a trained law enforcement officer, was simply telling Kollin Elderts to stop harassing a customer at McDonald’s.

"We want law enforcement officers to get involved," Blanke told the jurors. "We don’t want them to walk away."

Contrasting views of the 29-year-old special agent and the shooting were a running theme during the three hours of closing arguments.

Deedy, of Arlington, Va., who was here for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, is charged with murdering Elderts, a 23-year-old Kailua man who was fatally wounded in the chest at the McDonald’s restaurant on Kuhio Avenue early Nov. 5, 2011.

The second-degree murder charge carries a mandatory life term with the possibility of parole. He is also charged with a companion count of using a firearm to commit a felony.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn did not give the jurors the option of convicting Deedy on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Deedy acknowledges firing the fatal shot, but his defense is that he was protecting himself and his friend Adam Gutow­ski, who was being beaten by Elderts and his friend Shane Medei­ros.

Futa characterized the altercation as a "fistfight."

The panel began deliberations for about three hours in the afternoon before going home for the three-day Statehood Day weekend.

The eight men and four women will be considering 20 days of testimony in the high-profile case and reviewing the McDonald’s soundless surveillance video recording in the deliberations room.

During the closing arguments, Futa and Blanke provided different versions of who was the aggressor in the confrontation that led to the fatal shooting.

Although the video captured the moments leading up to the shooting and the first of three shots fired by Deedy, both sides relied on the conflicting testimony by witnesses to bolster their narrative of the events.

Futa called Deedy a "bully with a badge" and said Elderts was trying to defend himself from the intoxicated agent, who drew his 9 mm Glock without legal justification.

Futa also presented the prosecution’s theory that an ego-driven Deedy pulled out his gun after he became upset that a drunken Elderts was able to knock him down.

Blanke, a Virginia lawyer, delivered the defense closing in place of Deedy’s lead attorney, Hono­lulu lawyer Brook Hart, who had laryngitis.

Blanke said Deedy was the one who acted in self-defense.

"Kollin Elderts is the one who took this to deadly force," Blanke said.

Deedy’s attorney argued that by tackling Deedy to the ground and grabbing for his weapon, Elderts created a threat to Deedy that forced him to fire his gun.

"Deadly force has been used by Kollin Elderts as soon as he drops Christopher Deedy to the ground," Blanke said. "When an officer goes to the ground, that is a deadly-force situation."

Blanke again went over the security video from the McDonald’s and pointed out instances in which he said Elderts was the aggressor.

"He (Deedy) doesn’t want to shoot anybody," Blanke said. "He wants them to stop. He’s using the threat of deadly force to get them to stop, but Kollin Elderts continues to come at him."

Blanke also said the video clearly shows Deedy displaying his badge and credentials to Elderts, which enraged Elderts, who had not only been drinking, but also had ingested cocaine and marijuana.

But Futa said the video clearly shows Deedy was the aggressor, meddling in a situation that he did not have to get involved in and not walking away when tensions escalated.

"He (Deedy) caused that dangerous situation," Futa said. "He is the one who kicked Kollin Elderts."

Futa argued that Deedy’s intoxication and inexperience contributed to the shooting.

She mocked Deedy’s references to his law enforcement training by saying the "expert marksman" fired two shots that missed Elderts at arm’s length.

The prosecutor said Elderts and Medei­ros were joking with McDonald’s cashiers and with customer Michel Perrine when Deedy noticed them and stepped in.

"There was no reason for the defendant to get involved," Futa said.

She said Perrine was drunk, ignored Elderts and Medei­ros, and did not feel he needed help.

But Futa said, "He (Deedy) had to meddle. … He came out of nowhere to address Kollin, who was merely sitting at the table crossing his arms and waiting for his food."

Futa argued that Deedy pulled out a gun and fired the first shot without identifying himself as a law enforcement officer.

Blanke said Deedy was not the aggressor when, with his hands in his pockets, he approached Elderts and simply told him to leave Perrine alone.

Elderts escalated the situation by becoming angry and even more upset when Deedy showed him his badge, Blanke said.

Blanke said the video showed Deedy pulling out his credentials and that Detective Peter Boyle testified that Deedy "badged" Elderts.

Blanke said Deedy acted reasonably and followed his training as the confrontation became violent and he faced the possibility of death or serious injury.

"What special agent Deedy did was reasonable under the circumstances," Blanke said.

"Special agent Deedy did not attack Kollin Elderts. Kollin Elderts attacked him. Kollin Elderts attacked (Deedy’s friend) Adam Gutow­ski when he was on the ground."

Futa told the jurors that "justice demands you find him (Deedy) guilty as charged."

But Blanke said the case was about self-defense and the defense of others, and reminded the jurors that the prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, "the single highest standard of proof in our legal justice system."