Denial of defense motion disappointing

The fatal shooting of Kollin Elderts by U.S. State Department special agent Christopher Deedy has generated intense public interest and speculation about what happened on that fateful Nov. 5 in Waikiki.

Deedy’s attorneys, in filing a motion to dismiss the murder charge against him, attached video, photographs and other information to support his motion. But the public won’t get to see any of it until a July 13 hearing on the motion or the trial. Circuit Judge Karen Ahn sealed the information, fearing that "some members of the public may speculate, discuss, then reach opinions" based on the information, perhaps tainting potential witnesses and harming the integrity of the trial process.

Less was said about the integrity that comes from a transparent judicial system. Or that the public already is speculating, discussing and reaching opinions about the case.

How about a word people actually use?

Spelling-bee words are nothing if not worldly.

The winner of the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee, Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, won by spelling a French-derived word that means ambush, snare or trap — "guetapens."

Our own Taggart Nakamoto of Konawaena Middle School became the Hawaii champion and the state’s representative to the national bee by spelling an Australian-English word for a backwater caused by overflow from a river and forming a stagnant pond — "billabong."