The lawyer for Christopher Deedy told the state judge presiding over a U.S. State Department special agent’s murder retrial that he has "a good-faith basis to believe" that the friend of shooting victim Kollin Elderts hired a criminal defense lawyer for himself after the shooting.

Defense lawyer Thomas Otake asked Circuit Judge Karen Ahn on Friday whether it is OK for him to ask Elderts’ friend Shane Medeiros during cross-examination why he felt the need to hire a criminal lawyer. He said it has implications about the credibility of Medeiros’ testimony.

Medeiros, 25, was with Elderts in the Kuhio Avenue McDonald’s restaurant on Nov. 5, 2011, when Deedy fatally shot the 23-year-old Elderts.

Prosecutor Janice Futa said she objects to Otake asking Medeiros whether he hired a criminal lawyer.

Ahn said she would like to research whether the question is legally permissible before ruling.

Otake told Ahn there will be no need for the research if she finds the question not relevant.

Ahn told Otake she doesn’t want to issue a ruling, without research, on something that either side may later appeal. She gave both sides until Monday to file legal briefs.

Deedy, 30, is standing trial for murder a second time because the first one last year ended with a hung jury.

Deedy claims he shot Elderts in self-defense.

Following last year’s mistrial, observers questioned why Ahn did not give the jurors the option to consider whether Deedy is guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.

In the months that followed, the Hawaii Supreme Court overturned convictions Ahn had handed down in two other cases for not giving those juries the option to consider finding the defendants guilty of less serious charges. One conviction was for kidnapping; the other was for manslaughter.

And on Wednesday the state’s high court issued an opinion finding Ahn wrong for closing to the public portions of Deedy’s last trial. The Supreme Court, however, rejected the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s request to prohibit Ahn from closing to the public portions of the retrial unless she first takes certain steps. Ahn had already released transcripts of the closed proceedings from the first trial.

Medeiros testified Friday that when he and Elderts were at the restaurant’s front counter ordering food, neither one of them said anything to Michel Perrine, another customer at the counter.

Perrine testified that he was "pretty intoxicated at that point" and doesn’t remember much of what happened in the restaurant. He said Elderts did talk to him but that the only thing he remembers of what Elderts said is, "one word stuck out. That was ‘haole.’"

A McDonald’s cashier had earlier testified she told Elderts to stop because Perrine was getting mad.

Medeiros said neither he nor Elderts called Perrine haole. He does remember, however, Perrine telling them, "I live in Hawaii. I’m from Hawaii, too."

Later, when Perrine was seated and staring at Medeiros while waiting for the food, Medeiros said he asked Perrine, "You still have a f—–g problem?" Medeiros said he thought Perrine had taken his and Elderts’ earlier joking with cashiers the wrong way.

At that time, a restaurant security video shows Deedy standing next to Elderts’ table. Medeiros said he heard Deedy tell a seated Elderts, "You know, acting like this can get you shot. You don’t want to get shot."

Medeiros said Elderts stood up and told Deedy, "If you going shoot me, then shoot me if you going shoot me."

He said Deedy then kicked Elderts in the waist, and Elderts slapped Deedy in the face.

Medeiros said Deedy’s friend Andy Gutowski then went after Elderts, who was able to push Gutowski off.

Medeiros said he saw Gutowski go after Elderts again, so Medeiros grabbed Gutowski. He said the momentum of grabbing Gutowski caused both men to fall away from Elderts toward a restaurant side entrance. Restaurant video from a camera outside shows only Gutowski falling out of the side door and going back in.

The video from inside the restaurant shows that as Medeiros was standing over Gutowski at the side door, Deedy was falling backward away from Elderts. It shows Elderts going to where Medeiros was, then turning around and confronting Deedy, who by this time had stood back up.

Medeiros said as Elderts was confronting Deedy, Gutowski stood back up, and both men began punching each other. He said Gutowski’s girlfriend, Jessica West, who had earlier tried to get in between Elderts and Deedy, joined Gutowski in punching Medeiros.

As this was going on, the video shows Elderts pushing Deedy out of camera view.

Medeiros said while he, Gutowski and West were struggling with one another, another customer from inside the restaurant pushed Medeiros out through the side door and prevented him from going back in. At that time, he said, he heard three shots and saw that one of them had hit Elderts.