A murder defendant testified Thursday he was having sex with his girlfriend in the living room of an apartment at Schofield Barracks at the time he was allegedly beating a cabdriver to death in Waipahu.
Kilani Derego, 19, taking the witness stand in his own defense, said he and his girlfriend were at a party at Schofield when taxi driver Charlys Ty Tang was being beaten in Waipahu’s Times Super Market parking lot.
Derego is on trial in state court on charges of second-degree murder in connection with the fatal beating of Tang on May 1, 2010, Tang’s 41st birthday.
His testimony matched those of his now ex-girlfriend, the ex-girlfriend’s hanai sister and the hanai sister’s fiance, who all took the stand in Derego’s trial earlier this week.
However, their testimony contradicts what his co-defendant and childhood friend, Michael Robles, told Honolulu Police Department detectives after he was arrested May 7, 2010, and what he said during his own trial last year.
Robles told police and testified in his own trial that he and Derego got into Tang’s taxi in Waikiki and, when they arrived in Waipahu, planned to skip out on paying the fare. But while he was able to run away, Robles said, Derego got into an argument with Tang and started beating the driver.
Robles said he grabbed Derego to stop him from beating Tang and kicked Tang twice to get him to release his grip on Derego’s legs.
Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario found Robles guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Robles appeared in court last week and this week as a prosecution witness. However, he said everything he told police and testified to at his trial is false, then refused to answer any questions.
Del Rosario allowed Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell to read into the record Robles’ police statements. But when Bell asked Robles whether he had said what was in the statements, Robles refused to answer.
Del Rosario ruled that the jury can consider Robles’ police statements in determining Derego’s fate, but did not allow Bell to present the jurors Robles’ previous trial testimony.
At the time of Tang’s fatal beating, Derego and Robles were residents of a Hale Kipa therapeutic group home in Manoa for at-risk youth.
On cross-examination, Derego said he lied when he filled out an application for a pass for the weekend of Tang’s fatal beating. He said on the application he was going to be with his father.
Derego said he persuaded his father to lie for him when the counselors at Hale Kipa checked out his story. The application was approved.
HawaiiNewsNow Video: Teen accused of killing taxi driver says he was at Schofield
