HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
A former Hawaii State Hospital patient has been found guilty
of second-degree murder Thursday following the brutal attack of an unsuspecting
Waianae High School teacher in 2009.
Investigators say Tittleman Fauatea went to the Ewa Town
Center in February 2009, unwrapped a kitchen knife he just bought from Longs
Drugs, and repeatedly stabbed 43-year-old Asa Yamashita, who was sitting on a
bench outside, in what prosecutors called an apparently random attack.
A defense attorney said during the trial that Fauatea, who
was 25 years old at the time, wasn't in his right mind at the time of the
attack and he should be found innocent by reason of insanity.
Circuit Court Judge Rom Trader said Thursday it was clear
that Fauatea killed Yamashita, but central to the court's decision was whether
or not he was, under law, responsible or otherwise excused by reason of his
mental disease, disorder or defect at the time.
"All of the experts agree, every single one of them,
that the defendant at the time was suffering from a bona fide invalid and
serious mental illness," Trader said. "There's no doubt about
that."
However, the state contended otherwise.
"While the defendant clearly demonstrated in their
view, that while his ability to know right from wrong to control himself at
that time may have been impaired to some extent, it certainly did not rise in
their level to what's required by the law to exculpate him for his
responsibility in his crime," Trader said. "In other words, they did
not believe it rose to the level of substantial impairment."
Following multiple examinations and interviews by doctors
and behavioral health specialists, it was in the court's view that Fauatea was
"malingering by deliberately withholding information and/or by
deliberately exaggerating his symptoms and thought processes at the time of the
defense to make himself look more impaired or less responsible for his actions."
City Deputy Prosecutor Wayne Tashima said Fauatea's disorder
has been a major concern from the very beginning.
"His disorder did impair him to a certain extent but it
all depends on how the judge looks at it and what he factors in in terms of the
background as well as the facts of the case to make that determination,"
Tashima said.
Yamashita's family members -- including her husband Bryan
and sister Rae Shimabukuro -- were present in the court room as the judge read
the verdict, hoping to find closure in what they described as a "rough
four years."
"Today was a hard day for me," Bryan Yamashita
said. "I think we're all kind of relieved that it's finally come to some
kind of fruition. It's been a long time."
Choking back tears, Shimabukuro said her beloved younger
sister had the biggest heart in the smallest body and always thought the best
in people.
"Although we feared for her being so little, she had no
fear," Shimabukuro said. "She never thought one minute about changing
schools or that she was ever in danger and I think maybe that's why she got
caught the way she did."
She said it was a very "iffy" morning for the
family prior to the ruling so she was thankful for the judge's decision.
"The main thing we want everyone to know is that this
man cannot come out and do this to anyone else again and put any other family
through what he put us through," Shimabukuro said.
Fauatea faces a mandatory life in prison with the possibility of parole at his sentencing on June 25.
Asa Yamashita leaves behind two daughters, ages 9 and 11.
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