Opinion ID: 1196216
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Meeting

Text: On January 14, 1997, two days after the incident, Complainant told her parents about her encounter with Defendant. The parents and Complainant went that same day to the police station and filed a complaint. Some time prior to February 7, 1997, the police went to the home of the Defendant's aunt, Andrea Gano (Aunt), to question her daughter, who had been a guest at Defendant's party on the night of the incident. Until that time, Aunt was unaware of the incident. On February 7, 1997, approximately one month after the incident, Aunt spoke with the mother of Complainant (Mother) over the telephone. Apparently, Aunt and Mother were friends. During the conversation, Aunt told Mother that the police had been to her house and asked Mother what was going on. Upon hearing the allegations, Aunt asked for permission to visit Mother to talk about the incident in person. Mother agreed. Aunt then called Defendant and told him to accompany Aunt to the home of Complainant. Defendant did not want to go. Defendant testified that, when Aunt called him, he did not know why they were going to Complainant's home. It is unclear from the record whether Defendant knew at that time that a complaint had been filed against him or that he understood the nature of what those charges were. Honolulu Police Officer, Sergeant Scott Yagihara, testified that he believe[d] [he first met Defendant] on February 7th[,1997]. However, Officer Abadilla, who speaks Ilocano and Tagalog, testified that he was asked to accompany Sergeant Yagihara for a second interview on July 2, 1997 because Sergeant Yagihara had had difficulty conversing with Defendant. Defendant was not indicted until November 17, 1997. When Defendant and Aunt arrived at Complainant's home on February 7, 1997, Aunt spoke with Mother in Tagalog (Mother did not understand or speak Ilocano) while Defendant stood by idly. Approximately an hour into their conversation, Defendant's cousin, Marylou Iglesia (Cousin), arrived. Aunt, Cousin, and Defendant were at Complainant's home for several hours. At one point during that time, they left and then returned to wait for the father of Complainant (Father) to come home. During the conversation prior to Father's arrival, Aunt, according to Mother's testimony, apparently asked Mother to drop the case. Cousin, separately and in Tagalog, offered money to Mother. Defendant remained silent. When Father returned home from work, Aunt and Cousin talked to Father, in Tagalog, about the case and offered him money. Father testified that, although Defendant remained silent during the conversation, Defendant was shaking his head the entire time. Although the prosecution characterized Defendant's head shake as a nod, Father did not clarify the manner in which Defendant shook his headi.e., up and down or side-to-side. At trial, Aunt denied asking Complainant's parents to drop the charges, and Cousin denied offering the parents money. Defendant claimed he did not speak, did not hear any offers, and did not ask the parents to drop the charges. Additionally, Defendant testified that, when Mother asked him directly, he affirmatively denied using force upon Complainant.