After Christopher Deedy’s initial mistrial on second-degree murder charges, Honolulu prosecutors urged a speedy retrial of the federal agent, based on the adage that justice delayed is justice denied. There’s certainly no argument with that. It was imperative to preserve evidence from that 2011 brawl, which ended in the shooting death of Kailua resident Kollin Elderts, not allow it to fade.
But following the acquittal on those charges on Thursday, Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa told reporters that the "seriousness of the offense" warranted a third trial, given the hung jury on the lesser charges, manslaughter and assault. "Kollin Elderts and his family and his friends and our community deserve that kind of justice," Futa said.
While American justice mandates a speedy trial, it does not require repeated trials until a conviction on some charge, any charge, is secured. Justice in the Deedy criminal case has not been delayed, and the simple fact that the prosecution didn’t get the desired result doesn’t mean justice was denied. Twice the city has had a chance to make the case for second-degree murder against Deedy, and twice it has failed.
There is no compelling argument to drag Honolulu through yet another costly courtroom marathon. Futa said repeatedly that the evidence supported second-degree murder, not the lesser charges, which Judge Karen Ahn added in the latter days of the latest trial.
City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro should cut his losses and forego another trial.
The Elderts family and many in the community feel shaken by the outcome and believe, understandably, that Deedy should not get off scot-free in this episode. He won’t. Elderts’ family will have redress through its civil case, in which the burden of proof is less than in criminal court.
Their proposal for a "Kollin Elderts Law" barring public servants from drinking while carrying a firearm should prompt a discussion about prudent behavior by law-enforcement officers, on or off duty. The fight that broke out in the Waikiki McDonalds should have been avoidable. The fact that such a confrontation led to a death is deeply distressing, particularly at the hands of a government agent sent here as security for the international Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Although such a Hawaii statute wouldn’t apply to the acts of a federal agent, Deedy must be held accountable to administrative rules governing federal employees; those consequences are still pending.
Where the just-concluded criminal trial is concerned, however, it’s plain that Deedy’s defense team, headed by Thomas Otake, made the stronger argument, persuading the jury that the fatal shot was made in self-defense. Security-camera images showing the fight at the restaurant bolstered the contention that there was aggression on both sides, making the notion of self-defense more plausible.
Otake was also shrewd in emphasizing the self-defense narrative, in that it undercut the argument that either recklessness or emotional distress — possible components in a manslaughter conviction — was present.
Critics might feel dissatisfied with the lack of a criminal conviction in this case; still, it’s hard to see how a third go at it would yield a different result. Otake said it best in his post-verdict interview: "Enough is enough."
