GZ is no lawyer, but I thought that you do not need to be majority responsible to be on the hook for $$$$.

IMHO I think there are plenty of unscrupulous lawyers who have already approached the Elderts' family about filing civil charges.

Looked it up. Hawaii is a modified comparative negligence state. Need to be 51% at fault for other party to recover in tort action.
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-31

^^^Intesting.

Just a case of wrong place, wrong time

A lot is being said back and forth about Deedy's state of mind during this altercation.   Most notably his BAC at the time this was committed.

The crime was committed that much we do know.   Does it really matter if he was drunk or not when this occurred?


To me it seems almost a worse crime if he was completely sober because the video clearly shows that he instigated this affair and didn't handle the situation in what many would construe as standard protocol. 

The fact that Futa is making this a focal point to her case annoys me.    Just like she made a big deal of whether or not Elderts had a weapon in which it was clearly reported from the getgo he did not. The other agent called to the stands indicated that off duty agents are not allowed to consume alcohol to the point of impairment while carrying a piece.   There was no way she was going to prove this so why continue on with it?   Clearly he handled the situation as you would expect from someone from the mainland...or more specifically crime-riddled Washington DC.   Not Hawaii.Her whole case is full of holes and if Deedy walks, I think her job should be at stake here. 


No denying this kid was no angel and probably deserved a beating.   But this was a needless death and I definitely blame Deedy for it.

Kinda older video but interesting comment about how prosecution handled (bungled?) Deedy's testimony / cross examination.

KHON: Former prosecutor breaks own Deedy's testimony

   Clearly he handled the situation as you would expect from someone from the mainland...or more specifically crime-riddled Washington DC.

What are you implying here?

What are you implying here?

Well its my opinion but I really think what we had here was a clash of cultures really.    HIndsight is 20/20 but if you try and look at it from each parties perspective, here in hawaii we normally handle things with our fists.   you do it and its over with.


over there especially in DC, the murder capital of the USA, things are handled differently.    Im not vouching for Deedy in any way because if he had done it Elderts way, Im sure he wouldve walked away with a black eye or maybe a broken nose at worse.    He chose to handle it in a way he thought was necessary and that was shoot because he thought was in grave danger.    whether or not alchohol played a part in this is moot.

But whens the last time you read about a fist fight where one man laid dead afterwards here?   you dont because it doesnt happen.

This whole stand your ground grave danger bullshit stance is just that.   Its a crutch. 


Deedy needs to pay for his actions.  He killed a man unnecessarily.   

But whens the last time you read about a fist fight where one man laid dead afterwards here?   you dont because it doesnt happen.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're ignorant.

It happens more than you think.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/19059833/tevita-aholelei-who-killed-man-with-one-punch-sentenced

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/179573551.html?id=179573551

http://damontucker.com/2011/12/05/bar-fight-leads-to-death-of-big-island-man/

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/09/15/news/story06.html

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2001/10/10/news/story9.html

.

over there especially in DC, the murder capital of the USA, things are handled differently. 

First point, get your facts straight.  DC isn't the "murder capital of the USA."  It ranks 14th in the list of per capita murders of cities having over 250,000 people in them.

Second point, it makes absolutely no difference if Deedy were born in D.C., Florida, or Hawaii.  He was a trained Security Agent for the Department of State.  That was his job.  He wasn't a thug on the DC streets using his gun to settle arguments.

Why don't people spend a minute on the Internet learning about the person instead of forming an opinion based on biases, assumptions, and hearsay?  Would it matter that Deedy didn't grow up in D.C.?  He moved there in 2006 (see the passage highlighted below)...

While Chris Deedy was growing up, Chris’ family moved frequently, giving him an interest in travel and international relations. Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, they moved to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for his father’s employment. The company also took them to live in Tokyo, Japan, for five years, before moving back to Pennsylvania and ultimately home to the Worcester area in 1997.

Attending St. John’s Catholic High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 2002, Chris excelled in academics and was active in numerous extracurricular activities. He played lacrosse, served in student government, was active in campus ministry, and frequently volunteered to help the community with the Ryken Service Club. He also worked throughout high school, employed to do apartment maintenance and groundskeeping year round, while also teaching snowboarding during the winter.

Chris then attended Tulane University on a partial academic scholarship, where he studied economics, political economy, and history. At Tulane, Chris was an orientation coordinator for new students and continued his volunteerism in community service. At the beginning of his senior year, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and forced many, including Chris, to evacuate. Afterwards, Chris assisted with the rebuilding efforts, volunteered to help complete tax returns for low income families with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and helped to revitalize public schools in the area.

After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Chris moved to Washington, DC, in 2006, where he worked as an industry analyst for the U.S. Department of Labor. He continued to volunteer, becoming a Project Coordinator at DC Cares and working at the DC Central kitchen. He also continued his education and passion for international studies, taking courses at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and learning Arabic through DC Internationals. Soon after moving to DC, Chris also met Stephanie, his future wife, while playing in an office softball league.

In 2009, Chris joined the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the law enforcement arm of the Foreign Service. Chris’ professional goal was to work in law enforcement to help protect innocent people. Driven by his love of travel and international relations and his personal sense of duty to serve, the Diplomatic Security Service was a perfect fit for Chris. Basic training for DSS was rigorous and thorough, covering a wide span of applicable topics and law enforcement officer training.

After graduation from the Basic Special Agent Course, Chris began working as a Special Agent in the Washington Field Office. There, he conducted passport and visa fraud investigations, including several joint investigations with local police departments and other federal agencies. Dedicated to his investigations, Chris received an award from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office as a lead investigator in a multi-person identity document fraud scheme. He also served on numerous protective details for visiting foreign dignitaries, as well as on a two-month temporary assignment to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s protective detail. In 2010 Chris earned an agency Extra Mile Award for continuous service with limited rest through harsh conditions, and received personal letters of gratitude from several foreign ministers.

In February 2010 and March 2011 Chris volunteered for temporary tours of duty in Baghdad, Iraq and Benghazi, Libya. In both instances, Chris’s duties included serving on personal protection teams, escorting U.S. diplomats into high risk areas to ensure their safety and well-being. Libya in particular was a difficult mission. During that time, Chris and his colleagues were there without diplomatic status in an active war zone, with limited access to food, sleep, and communication. Afterwards, he received letters of gratitude from the new Libyan government and U.S. Special Envoy Christopher Stevens (later named Ambassador and killed in the 9/11/12 terrorist attacks) and the Department of State gave Chris a Meritorious Honor Award for his “dedication and professionalism displayed in support of the protection operations for the designated U.S. Special Representative to the Libyan Transitional National Council, John C. Stevens, and the attached Department of State/U. S. Agency for International Development officers that accompanied him to Benghazi, Libya.”

Directly following his deployment to Iraq, Chris married Stephanie in February, 2011. Three weeks later, Chris was unexpectedly deployed to Libya.  After the Libya deployment, Chris again volunteered to serve as part of the Asian Pacific Economic Conference in Hawaii. It was during this temporary duty assignment that Chris was attacked and compelled to use deadly force.

Fine Ill concede those points and stand corrected.

But I would really like someone here to engage and enlighten me as to why Futa is making alcohol one of the main points of her argument when she cant even prove if he was actually impaired.     Same exact incident occurs but With alcohol theres negligence, but w/o alcohol we have what?  intent?   Seems to me that it helps her case more if the guy just had a few drinks and was sober at the time no?   

Fine Ill concede those points and leave it as a brash young rookie with a gun going overboard on a savage.

But I would really like someone here to engage and enlighten me as to why Futa is making alcohol one of the main points of her argument when she cant even prove if he was actually impaired.     Same exact incident occurs but With alcohol theres negligence, but w/o alcohol we have what?  intent?   Seems to me that it helps her case more if the guy just had a few drinks and was sober at the time no?

Between you and me...

The prosecutor is a blooming idiot.

She's presented a weak, circumstantial case and effectively lost even before the verdict.

I'm not taking sides in this post. All I'm saying is based on her case, Deedy will probably walk away a free man.

i've been developing this thought since the closing argument
and KK's post this morning finally cemented my thinking
does anyone have a roster of the lawyers in the prosecutor's office
i looked this morning and only saw a picture of kaneshiro and his chief deputy
is Ms Futa a junior or senior prosecutor?
she seems like a weak choice for such a high profile case
not very assertive or well spoken
does not have much courtroom presence
and she blinks like 80-90 times a minute
makes her seem nervous, like she is unsure or lying
how come the prosecutor is not taking a more active role in the case?
no grandstanding in the courtroom or in front of the media
for an elected official, he has not taken any of the spotlight
is it incompetence by the lead prosecutor, or is keith kaneshiro trying to distance himself from a case he knows he's gonna lose?

Between you and me...

The prosecutor is a blooming idiot.

She's presented a weak, circumstantial case and effectively lost even before the verdict.

I'm not taking sides in this post. All I'm saying is based on her case, Deedy will probably walk away a free man.

i've been developing this thought since the closing argument
and KK's post this morning finally cemented my thinking
does anyone have a roster of the lawyers in the prosecutor's office
i looked this morning and only saw a picture of kaneshiro and his chief deputy
is Ms Futa a junior or senior prosecutor?
she seems like a weak choice for such a high profile case
not very assertive or well spoken
does not have much courtroom presence
and she blinks like 80-90 times a minute
makes her seem nervous, like she is unsure or lying
how come the prosecutor is not taking a more active role in the case?
no grandstanding in the courtroom or in front of the media
for an elected official, he has not taken any of the spotlight
is it incompetence by the lead prosecutor, or is keith kaneshiro trying to distance himself from a case he knows he's gonna lose?

So I guess my question would be, do you think that this is exactly what the prosecutor wanted? You know, "Look, we tried him in a court of law and he was found innocent"...

I don't know, just thinking out loud.

So I guess my question would be, do you think that this is exactly what the prosecutor wanted? You know, "Look, we tried him in a court of law and he was found innocent"...

I don't know, just thinking out loud.

Exactly what I thought about the Trayvon Martin prosecution team

conspiracy talk?  what would prosecutions impetus be something like that?  im not following.

conspiracy talk?  what would prosecutions impetus be something like that?  im not following.

Probably why they charging with murder instead of manslaughter

no, not a conspiracy
the prosecutor is serving two masters
justice and the electorate
they have to be "tough on crime" to get re-elected
so sometimes they have to take on cases that they may not be able to prove due to public pressure
if they lose the case, then they chalk it up to "a jury of their peers"

conspiracy talk?  what would prosecutions impetus be something like that?  im not following.

conspiracy talk?  what would prosecutions impetus be something like that?  im not following.

Sometimes it just looks good. If you look at something like Hawaii news now, I think it is split pretty 50-50 with people cheering or condemning the prosecution. That could be good for someones re-election... just saying. 

Sometimes it just looks good. If you look at something like Hawaii news now, I think it is split pretty 50-50 with people cheering or condemning the prosecution. That could be good for someones re-election... just saying.

thanks for that!