Years of appeals possible before third trial for Deedy

State Department employee Christopher Deedy on Thursday appeared headed for a third trial in the shooting death of Kollin Elderts six years ago at a Waikiki McDonald’s, but it could take years of appeals before Deedy ends up in an Oahu courtroom facing manslaughter charges.

“We’re committed to making sure there will never be a third trial in this case,” Deedy’s attorney Thomas Otake said Thursday after the Hawaii Supreme Court earlier in the day denied an appeal by Deedy, clearing the way for a third trial.

An appeal of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision — either directly to the U.S. Supreme Court or through U.S. District Court in Hawaii and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — “could very well take years,” Otake said. “Hopefully it doesn’t take that long.”

Otake declined to provide specific information about Deedy, now 33, but said he is living on the East Coast and is “still employed, in some capacity, in the State Department.”

Deedy was a 27-year-old agent for the State Department on Nov. 5, 2011, when he fatally shot 23-year-old Elderts, of Kailua, in the Kuhio Avenue McDonald’s restaurant following an early morning verbal confrontation that escalated into a physical altercation.

“It’s been six years,” Otake said. “It’s been a long journey for everyone, for all parties. It’s time for this case to end. … It is just wrong to continue to try somebody time and time and time again until you get the result that you want.”

Deedy’s first Circuit Court trial in 2013 ended in a deadlocked jury. He was acquitted of murder in a second trial a year later, when jurors also deadlocked on reckless manslaughter and assault in the first degree.

Manslaughter charge

City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said Thursday that his office will now pursue a manslaughter case. “We are gratified to know that the Hawaii Supreme court agrees with our position that there is a legal and factual basis to allow the case against Christopher Deedy to be retried,” Kaneshiro said. “We will be pursuing a manslaughter conviction.”

Asked about the costs to take Deedy to trial again, Kaneshiro said, “We don’t put a cost to achieving justice and there’s justice to be achieved. We must remember that there was a victim in this case who was killed and we will pursue this case until justice is achieved.”

In November 2011, Deedy was a Washington, D.C.-based special agent who was in Honolulu to provide security for the multinational Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. He had been on Oahu barely 12 hours and had been out drinking with friends before the shooting.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn, who presided over Deedy’s first two trials, ordered a third trial after jurors deadlocked on the manslaughter and assault charges.

While Deedy was cleared of second-degree murder in the second trial, the Circuit Court concluded that Deedy could be retried on the outstanding charges, according to the Hawaii Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Richard Pollack.

Motion denied

Deedy filed a motion to dismiss the case in 2014, which was denied in Circuit Court.

In his appeal to the state Supreme Court, Deedy argued several points, including that he could not be tried again on “the principles of double jeopardy under the state and federal constitutions;” that the Circuit Court abused its discretion in failing to dismiss the case; and that he was immune from state prosecution as a federal agent, according to Pollack’s opinion.

But the Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the law does not bar Deedy from being retried on the manslaughter and assault charges.

“This case is remanded to the Circuit Court for further proceedings,” Pollack wrote.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Paula Nakayama wrote, “I would hold that the state is judicially estopped from retrying Deedy’s case, and that the Circuit Court abused its discretion in denying his motion to dismiss.”

Deedy testified in both trials that he shot Elderts to protect himself and others from assault at the hands of Elderts and the Kailua man’s friend, Shane Medeiros. He said he identified himself as a law enforcement officer before drawing his personal handgun and that he was not drunk.

The prosecution said Deedy was drunk and that he did not identify himself as a law enforcement officer before firing his weapon.

Deedy Appeal Majority Opinion by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd

Deedy Appeal Minority Opinion by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd