Clyde Okada of Waimea was found not guilty Wednesday of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. The jury deliberated for two hours before handing down the verdict. Okada, a former Hanapepe shopkeeper, was accused of sexual abuse by his step-daughter, who alleged
Clyde Okada of Waimea was found not guilty Wednesday of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. The jury deliberated for two hours before handing down the verdict.
Okada, a former Hanapepe shopkeeper, was accused of sexual abuse by his step-daughter, who alleged she was abused from about August 1997 to January 1999. Okada was on trial for continuous sexual assault on a minor (under 14 years of age), with two included offenses of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree sexual assault.
You are the exclusive judges of this case, Fifth Circuit Court Judge Clifford Nakea instructed the seven-man, five-woman jury.
“We’re happy the jury examined the evidence presented and did the right thing, and acquitted Clyde Okada,” said Okada’s defense attorney Mark Zenger.
In the second and last day of Okada’s trial, a forensic sexual assault examiner testified on behalf of the prosecution.
Nurse Catherine Stevens conducted a “medical/legal exam” on the alleged victim in June 2000 conducted in the Hilo Medical Clinic because Kaua’i did not have an adequate facility at the time.
On Monday, Kaua’i Police Department Youth Services Detective (now Lieutenant) Dean Pigao testified to videotaping an interview so the girl wouldn’t have to repeat her story several times. However, she did have to retell her story to at least five different people.
Stevens testified that the girl’s genitalia had scars from apparent past injuries from what she called “blunt penetrating force and incisions.”
Stevens said there were some injuries that seemed to be about two weeks old, which “seemed puzzling” because the girl said the sex abuse stopped several months before the exam.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Mark Zenger, Stevens testified that she could not determine whether the injuries, old or new, were related to consensual or unconsensual sexual contact; and that she could not know who committed sex acts on the girl.
“Although I believe that the investigation in this case was well done, the Kaua’i Police Department and (the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney) are always striving to improve the quality of investigations, and some improvements in sexual assault investigations have been implemented over the past year,” De Costa said.
The defense’s only witness was Yumiko “Yumi” Okada, Clyde’s mother.
Defense attorney Randal Valenciano showed the jury a computer-powered photo slide show of the Okada household, and had Yumi explain the layout of the house and where everyone slept at night.
Integral to the defense’s case was proving that the girl was lying about the time of night she would be allegedly molested by her step-father, in order to prove that she was lying about being molested.
Valenciano gradually led Mrs. Okada through questions regarding the nightly timeline of events in the Okada household, including bedtimes and waking times for each family member and work schedules.
Valenciano, in his closing statement, said the girl is not credible because of inconsistent statements and conflicting evidence. “Why does somebody get caught with so many lies?” he asked.
According to De Costa, some details were muddled because the girl was asked to recall specific events that happened 2 1/2 years ago, spread out over a period of about 2 1/2 years. Also, different questions were asked by different people for different reasons, he added.
“The difficulties the State had with proving the charge in this case are inherent to all sexual assault cases with child victims,” De Costa said.
The girl, now 14, will return to Washington State, where she lives with her grandparents. Her mother lives on Maui and her two younger brothers remain in the care of their grandmother in Waimea.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
