Verdict delayed in fatal Kaneohe shooting

The jury in the murder trial of Makuola Collins will resume deliberations today after failing to reach a verdict Wednesday afternoon.

Attorneys gave closing arguments Wednesday morning in Judge Karen Ahn’s courtroom in the case in which Collins, 27, is accused of fatally shooting a former Castle High football teammate, Joel Botelho, outside Botelho’s parents’ Kaneohe home in the early morning of Jan. 2.

Family and friends of Collins and Botelho sat across the aisle from each other in the courtroom. Several people on the Botelho side gasped and sobbed as Deputy Prosecutor Wayne Tashima showed the jury, and the gallery, a photo of Botelho’s bloodied knees in an attempt to prove the victim had been forced to kneel before he was shot, and then a photo showing where a bullet entered above the victim’s chest.

Tashima painted Botelho, 27, as an innocent peacemaker who "paid" for attempting to step between a violent and simmering dispute between his younger brother, Leon "Bubba" Botelho, 22, and Collins.

Tashima said Collins had gathered a group of relatives and friends to go the Botelhos’ home during the early morning hours of Jan. 2 after Bubba Botelho had "false-cracked" him at the Club Komo Mai bar in Kaneohe a few hours earlier.

"The defendant was mad, he was embarrassed, he was humiliated," Tashima said.

Instead, Collins was met by Joel Botelho, who tried to calm him down, Tashima said. When Leon Botelho fired a warning shot into the ground, Collins forced Joel Botelho to kneel and then shot him, Tashima said. Collins then shot at Bubba Botelho, missing, before fleeing the scene.

David Hayakawa, Collins’ attorney, argued that there are many gaps in the information that leave a reasonable doubt for the jury. The weapon that killed Joel Botelho, believed to be a handgun, was never recovered, and Hayakawa suggested repeatedly that it was Leon Botelho who shot his brother and then hid the evidence. Leon Botelho has been the only person to identify Collins as the man who shot his brother, Hayakawa said.

On Tuesday, Collins took the stand and denied shooting at the Botelhos. He testified that he had gone to the Botelhos’ home to urge his friend Joel to control his younger brother.

Hayakawa continued that theme Wednesday, noting that Leon Botelho had driven by Collins’ house and yelled obscenities shortly after the dispute at the bar. Hayakawa also said it was Leon Botelho who was the aggressor at Club Komo Mai and was the person kicked out of the bar.

"Maku (Collins) wasn’t escorted out," Hayakawa said.

Hayakawa said there were also inconsistencies in statements made by Leon Botelho and other prosecution witnesses.

During rebuttal, Tashima said Botelho initially lied about firing a weapon because he was distraught after his brother’s death, and was afraid of going to jail for having an unregistered rifle.

Correction: Wayne Tashima is the deputy prosecutor in the case. His name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story and in the print edition.