Man pleads insanity after attacking mother pushing baby stroller

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Desmond Kekahuna, left, spoke with defense attorney Aaron Wills in Judge Kevin Souza’s District Court Wednesday. Kekahuna is charged with attempted second-degree murder and assault. Kekahuna, also shown below, allegedly tried to run over a woman pushing her baby in a stroller in the parking lot and then attacked another person who tried to help.

1 /2 JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Desmond Kekahuna, left, in Kevin Souza’s District Courtroom Wednesday, spoke with defense attorney Aaron Wills. Kekahuna is charged with attempted second-degree murder and assault. Kekahuna, also shown below, allegedly tried to run over a woman pushing her baby in a stroller in the parking lot and then attacked another person who tried to help.

JAMME AQUINO/JACQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Prosecutor Kyle Mesa listened during Desmond Kekahuna’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

2/2 JAMM AQUINO/JAQINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Prosecutor Kyle Mesa listened during Desmond Kekahuna’s trial hearing on Wednesday.

JAMME AQUINO/JACQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Prosecutor Kyle Mesa listened during Desmond Kekahuna’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

Desmond Kekahuna, accused of intentionally driving his red Honda Fit into a 37-year-old woman who was pushing her 6-month-old baby in a stroller in the Mililani Walmart parking lot, was waived Tuesday.

But the issue isn’t whether Kekahuna punched a random stranger, then 37-year-old Christel Taliula, dragging her 15 feet, breaking her legs and beating her with a tire iron.

At issue was whether bespectacled Kekahuna, 48, who appeared in court in a blue paper jumpsuit and rubber slippers, was not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of attempted second-degree murder of Taliulu and second-degree assault for assault. a 40-year-old man intervened.

Kekahuna’s court-appointed attorney, Aaron Wills, had to prove to District Judge Kevin Souza that Kekahuna’s cognitive and volitional abilities were significantly impaired.

However, the defense and prosecution presented numerous facts and evidence about what happened on February 1, 2023 in that parking lot, including that Kekahuna took a significant step that could have caused Taiulu’s death using his car and tire iron.

Kekahuna also verbally agreed to wound Zachariah Jones, who suffered lacerations to his skull and face and broken bones after being struck approximately 20 times with a tire iron to his head, arms and body.

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(However, Taliulu’s child was not harmed.)

Kekahuna verbally agreed to this condition, agreeing that he had committed all the acts of which he was accused.

The judge said that after closing arguments he will take note of the issue and inform the parties of his decision, but must review all evidence and testimony presented.

Evidence presented Wednesday included testimony from three mental health professionals who interviewed Kekahuna, one for the defense and the other two for the state.

Souza said, “Even though all three found him fit (to stand trial), in a rather unusual move, he was transferred to HSH (Hawaii State Hospital) instead.”

Defense forensic psychiatry expert witness Dr. Martin Blinder, who interviewed Kekahuna three times and prepared reports each time, testified via video teleconference.

In his first report dated June 28, 2023, Blinder admitted that he was eligible to stand trial and will appear in court again on February 26, 2024.

But in his Aug. 28, 2024, criminal report, Blinder said Kekahuna “exhibited significant cognitive impairment and lacked an understanding of the wrongfulness of the conduct and the ability to meet the necessary threshold to deny criminal responsibility.”

Blinder said his initial diagnosis of schizophrenia changed as he got to know it better.

“Initially, I couldn’t tell if he met the standard of NGI (not guilty by reason of insanity),” but on the third try, Blinder discovered that Kekahuna had post-methamphetamine encephalopathy.

Blinder said that as a result of his drug use, Kekahuna experienced cognitive loss through several psychotic episodes, and “in the throes of these episodes he was incapacitated.”

Blinder’s report states that as long as he takes medication, he will not spiral out of control. He will hear voices, but will be able to remove them.

Wills asked Blinder about a comment Kekahuna made to him: “Those people I thought were so real back then, but I know they’re not.”

Under state law, a person is not liable for conduct “if, at the time of such conduct, as a result of physical or mental disease, disorder, or defect, he lacks the substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to comply with the law of the state.” human behavior to the requirements of the law.”

The judge asked how Blinder differentiated post-methamphetamine encephalopathy from schizophrenia.

Blinder said schizophrenia is genetic and appears between the ages of 19 and 21.

But with encephalopathy, once these people develop methamphetamine-induced changes in their brains, even if they stop using, they are left with “a syndrome virtually indistinguishable from schizophrenia” for the rest of their lives.

Blinder said he did not believe Kekahuna was a malingerer, although two of his colleagues who testified believed so.

The judge asked: “Your view is that Mr. Kekahuna, through the use of substances, particularly methamphetamine, did alter his brain chemistry to the extent that he developed encephalopathy, and this situation has resulted in Mr. Kekahuna continuing to suffer . from this mental illness” and does not have the opportunity to correct his actions?

Blinder said there was no evidence he was using illegal substances at the time of the incident.

He also said, “Malingers don’t jump off bridges… Even though he’s clean and sober for the rest of his life, we can’t give him new brain cells.”

He cited cases of Kekahuna jumping off a bridge onto the H-1 Freeway. He also jumped from the second floor of the Oahu Correctional Center.

Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Mesa questioned Blinder for not having his brain imaged to confirm the diagnosis.

Mesa called Brenda Bauer-Smith, an expert in forensic psychology who also prepared three reports after interviewing Kekahuna.

She said Kekahuna is thinking clearly and mentally stable.

Bauer-Smith said his accounts were self-serving and unreliable and told several different stories about the day of the incident.

She found that he had borderline personality disorder and his actions reflected “aggression rather than fear or flight”, attributing his actions to drug use, anger or stress.

According to Bauer-Smith, the only mental health problem he faced was depression.

Bauer-Smith said that although Kekahuna spoke of paranoia and auditory and visual hallucinations such as the people following him that day, he never told police about it.

Wills said Kekahuna denied having any mental health symptoms on the day of the incident and was simply going to buy cigarettes.

But Wills said Kekahuna was paranoid and thought people were following him.

Wills said Kekahuna didn’t even pay attention to the woman he hit and thought she was trying to hurt him.

Wills theorizes that Kekahuna had a psychotic episode in the car and thought people were coming to kill him, so he took out a tire iron and defended himself.

Kekahuna was going to “hit the kid,” Wills said. But a woman at the scene hit him in the face and told him to stop. “You will not hit this child,” she said.

After that, he did not run away, but sat on the sidelines and smoked a cigarette until the police arrived.

Wills said Kekahuna had at least four suicide attempts.

Psychologist Stephen Taketa, who once interviewed Kekahuna, said it could be a mental illness, but stated that “he does not have a mental illness that significantly impairs his cognitive and volitional abilities.”