HONOLULU — The Honolulu prosecutor’s office said it plans to try a federal agent a third time for the shooting death of a man in 2011.
Agent Christopher Deedy appealed the attempt at a third trial, but the Hawaii Supreme Court denied him on Thursday, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported .
Deedy’s attorney, Thomas Otake, plans to appeal the ruling again to a federal court or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said he is gratified that the state Supreme Court agrees there is legal and factual basis to allow another retrial.
“We will be pursuing a manslaughter conviction,” Kaneshiro said. “Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa will handle the case.”
Deedy is accused of shooting 23-year-old Kollin Elderts inside a McDonald’s restaurant after a verbal confrontation escalated into a physical altercation.
Deedy, based in Washington, D.C., was in Honolulu to provide security for a multinational conference. He had been on Oahu barely 12 hours and is accused of having been out drinking with friends before the shooting.
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’s first Circuit Court trial in 2013 ended in a deadlocked jury. A second jury a year later acquitted Deedy of second-degree murder but remained deadlocked on the charges of reckless manslaughter and first-degree assault.
Circuit Judge Karen Ahn, who presided over Deedy’s first two trials, ordered a third trial on the manslaughter and assault charge.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
