A Circuit Court jury deliberated less than four hours Friday before finding Charly Hernane guilty of murder in the May 11, 2011, death of his adoptive mother.
Circuit Judge Rom Trader scheduled sentencing for October. Hernane, 29, faces a mandatory life prison term with the possibility of parole.
Teresita Dumalan Hernane, 56, died of a stroke and injury to her jugular vein from a stab wound to her face. She suffered stab wounds on the left side of her neck and face, including one that sliced through her earlobe.
The forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy said the stroke could have been brought on by the knife attack. Teresita Hernane had hypertension and had been undergoing regular dialysis treatments.
A niece found her body on a blood-soaked bed in the room Hernane shared with her adopted son. A butcher knife was on the floor next to the bed.
The Hernanes lived in a home in Kalihi with relatives.
Police later found Charly Hernane at Kalakaua District Park nearby. He was sleeping on a concrete slab outside the gymnasium, his shirt and shorts stained with his mother’s blood.
Defense lawyer Alan Komagome had suggested that the injuries to Teresita Hernane did not appear to be of the type that are meant to kill and asked the jurors to consider a verdict of manslaughter instead of murder.
In opening statements Wednesday, Deputy Prosecutor Darrell Wong said relatives described Charly Hernane as introverted, withdrawn and even scary. He said they never talked with him and rarely saw him outside the room he shared with his mother.
After the verdict Friday, jury foreman Kenneth Lee said he was surprised Wong didn’t present any evidence of Hernane’s mental state after the prosecutor had talked so much about no one knowing what was going on in Hernane’s mind because of his behavior and lack of contact with others.
One hour before the jurors returned their guilty verdict, they asked the court whether Hernane had been deemed sane and mentally fit to stand trial.
Trader told them to consider only the evidence that was presented to them.
Another judge had found Hernane mentally fit to stand trial in July last year based on the reports of three mental health experts who had examined Hernane at the Hawaii State Hospital. The same judge had previously found Hernane mentally not fit to stand trial in November 2011, based on the reports of the same three mental health experts who examined Hernane at Oahu Community Correctional Center.
Teresita Hernane adopted Charly as a child when they lived in the Philippines. She moved to Hawaii in 1994 and later brought her son to live with her.
Relatives said Charly Hernane returned to the Philippines for drug rehabilitation, then came back to Hawaii about four years ago.
