Deedy’s lawyer goes after police officer’s credibility

The defense attorney for federal agent Christopher Deedy on Wednesday attacked the credibility of the first officer to respond to the fatal 2011 shooting, hoping to undercut the officer’s assertion that Deedy, the shooter, appeared intoxicated.

Defense attorney Thomas Otake attempted to show that Honolulu Police Department officer Sterling Naki made contradictory or erroneous statements in the case.

He asked Naki why he told a grand jury he could feel a pulse on Kollin Elderts’ neck, then said in court that he could not feel a pulse.

Naki said he was nervous and his hands were shaking, so he came to doubt his initial conclusion.

Other points alleged by the attorney Wednesday:

» Naki misidentified Deedy’s Glock pistol as a Sig Sauer.

» Naki allowed a civilian to handle Elderts’ cellphone, then claimed he had not.

Naki’s testimony came on the fourth day of Deedy’s retrial for murder. The jury in his first trial deadlocked almost a year ago, and the judge declared a mistrial.

Deedy, a special agent with the U.S. State Department, was in Honolulu providing security for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference when he shot Elderts in a McDonald’s and claimed self-defense.

Naki told Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa that two taxi drivers alerted him to an argument at the Kuhio Avenue McDonald’s and he was the first officer to enter the restaurant at about 2:50 a.m. Nov. 5, 2011.

He said he saw Deedy in a corner, appearing to perform CPR on Elderts, but when he got closer Deedy lifted his hands to show a bullet wound in Elderts’ chest.

Naki said it was "nerve-wracking" being the sole officer in the restaurant before the arrival of his supervisor. He told Futa that he was focused on Elderts, who was "lying in a pool of blood."

Deedy also was covered in blood.

Naki said he checked for Elderts’ pulse and asked the staff for rags to help Deedy, then reached into Elderts’ pocket for identification and pulled out a cellphone.

Otake confirmed that Naki was trained to preserve evidence and secure the scene, then asked whether Naki gave permission to a civilian to take Elderts’ phone.

When Naki denied it, Otake asked, "Didn’t you say, ‘Don’t call anybody right now, ‘K?’"

Naki again denied it.

Otake introduced a video showing Naki bending over someone on the ground and placing an item on a counter. In the video, a man can be heard making that statement as a civilian picks up the item.

Futa argued before Judge Karen Ahn that someone else could have made the statement in the video.

But when Naki returned to the courtroom, he admitted that the voice sounded like his.

Naki testified that he wasn’t aware that a civilian had picked up Elderts’ phone, but later recalled a man having it.

Naki said he pulled Deedy aside to pat him down after a supervisor instructed him to, and when he asked Deedy about weapons, Deedy replied: "I have a gun. I shot him."

Naki described his own expression, captured in a video of the pat-down, as a "look of shock" when he learned Deedy was carrying a weapon. Naki said he didn’t expect the shooter to be a law enforcement officer.

Naki, who had been an officer for about three years at the time, was responding to his first shooting when he saw Deedy rendering aid to Elderts. Deedy appeared to be "doing the right thing," and no one pointed to him when Naki asked where the shooter was, he said.

In response to questions fromFuta, Naki said that while patting down Deedy he noticed the agent appeared intoxicated.

"His eyes were dazed, glassy, a little red," Naki said. "I could smell the alcohol coming off of his breath."

Deedy has denied being drunk.

The case is expected to continue Thursday with testimony from the medical examiner and Naki’s supervisor.