Opinion ID: 870427
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Li's Testimony[10]

Text: LI testified that Behrendt would spend time with SI at home until LI returned from work each day. Behrendt told LI that he took showers with SI at their apartment, and LI told him it was inappropriate for him to be doing that with her. Behrendt responded that it was okay. LI also observed SI and Behrendt horse-playing around one day at their apartment: [SI] ended up underneath him, and he was on top of her, with  you know, just the way how they were like looking at each other like made me kind of feel uncomfortable and that he was like  the way how he was stroking her hair back just made me very uncomfortable like, you know, why are they acting like that towards each other, you know. LI did not confront Behrendt about this incident because she was scared. LI recounted a time when they went to a party at her friend Trista's house and Behrendt all of a sudden [] just kind of got upset and was acting really jealous. Then he and SI went upstairs to the bathroom for about thirty minutes. After they came out, LI noticed that there was a hole in the wall in the bathroom, that SI had a red mark that looked like a hickey and was very upset. LI confronted Behrendt about it and he told her that he accidentally grabbed [SI] by the neck[.] LI also recalled an incident when they were on their way back to Hawai`i and staying at a cousin's house in Washington. LI testified that LI, Behrendt and SI were sleeping next to each other on the floor one night, and SI and Behrendt ... started acting kind of weird with each other. So I kind of stayed up so where to see how they would act towards each other. And during this night I heard  it was pitch black, and I heard him say get on top. And she's like, no. And I was just wondering like what are they talking about, you know. And then I saw her on top. And then I was like, what are they doing, you know. In my mind I was thinking like why are they  what are they doing, you know. And so  and then all I hear her say was ouch. And I'm like, What's going on? So I put my arm around him, and so  and all he could do was like just move my arm[.] LI did not confront Behrendt because she was scared of the fact of what was happening and didn't know what to do at that time[.] LI confronted SI the next morning, but SI told her that nothing was going on. LI further testified that SI would call Behrendt higna, which meant husband in Lakota. When LI talked to Behrendt about his interactions with SI, he would yell at her and tell her that she was selfish and a bitch for interfering. LI testified that [Behrendt] told me a long time ago that when he gets married to me or if I had a sister or someone younger than I am, he would take `em as a wife.
LI testified that when she and Behrendt lived at the Kamani Trees house, SI would sleep in bed with them. [Behrendt] was starting to act very jealous and he and SI were always together and were still taking showers together. When LI talked to Behrendt about taking showers with SI, he got upset with me and grabbed me by the arm and started shaking me and telling me I was selfish and I was ruining everything [that] he wanted to do. And I was interfering with both of them. LI also noticed that [t]hey started kissing and [Behrendt] started holding her hand, putting his arms around her and, you know, just like a boyfriend and girlfriend[.] LI testified that when she asked him about it, He just told me that he  you know, it was his culture and that I was ruining his culture because he's Native American. And that in the mainland, they used to do that all the time, that they used to hold hands and nobody said anything. And now that we moved down here, that everybody's saying something and, you know, it was wrong for them to do it. ... When they moved to the Aloha Kona house, sometimes LI would wake up early in the morning and Behrendt would be in SI's curtained-off bedroom. Behrendt told her that SI was braiding his hair. Also, Behrendt would get upset when she or others in her family would say something to him about how he was acting towards [SI]. When they moved to the Pumehana house, Behrendt and SI got closer and [h]e was always around her all the time. ... you couldn't separate them. They also started wearing rings together. LI and Behrendt had a daughter in June 2004, and Behrendt told LI that he wanted SI to be called mom also. LI tried to get Behrendt to move to the mainland, but he did not want to move unless SI moved with them. In November 2004, LI moved to Washington and lived with her cousin for a few months. LI returned to Hawai`i on January 11, 2005, and moved back in with Behrendt on the 23rd. Behrendt told LI that he and SI had gotten in a fight about something when they were in the car and that he hit her with the back of his hand. After LI moved in, she never saw SI with Behrendt. LI testified that SI told her about her sexual relationship with Behrendt in March 2006, and LI called the police. Afterwards, LI and her daughter moved back to the Pumehana house.