CHAPTER 43

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” I said, “this case is anything but simple. That Mr. Watanabe doesn’t understand this fact is a sad truth, and it speaks volumes about the rift between the Honolulu Police Department and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. Because I am certain, knowing my adversary as I do, that had he challenged what he was told by police, had he dug deeper, Mr. Watanabe would have been both astonished and appalled at what he unearthed. And he would not be sitting here today trying to convict my client Turi Ahina of a crime he did not commit.”

I lifted my arms and let the jury peer up the sleeves of my navy suit jacket. “Look closely. No aces, no playing cards whatsoever, up my sleeves. I’m no magician, no illusionist. I don’t use smoke and I don’t use mirrors, except to dress myself in the morning and sometimes fix my hair. I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, I want what you want out of this trial. And that is a fair and just verdict.”

I gazed behind me at the gallery, at the sea of dark shirts, just about the entire HPD observing this trial from the pews. In the front row sat the widow Dana Bristol, glaring at me as though I’d put the bullets in her husband myself.

“The evidence I am going to introduce to you during this trial is going to shock you. Over the next few days and weeks, you are going to learn through testimony and physical evidence that the Narcotics Intelligence Unit of the Honolulu PD was—and is—engaged in criminal conduct that includes the receipt of protection bribes; the planting, removing, and altering of evidence from this very crime scene; and most pointedly, murder and attempted murder.”

The gallery broke out in nervous, outraged chatter, and a few choice words were shouted above the din. Narita slapped his gavel as I continued.

“Attempted murder,” I repeated, only louder. “You will learn through testimony and physical evidence that Detective Kanoa Bristol was not trying to apprehend a suspect when he was shot and killed on a dark street in Pearl City. No. Detective Bristol was trying to execute an innocent man.”

I raised my voice to a shout as I pointed in the direction of the defense table while keeping my eyes locked on the faces in the jury box. “Let me say it again so that it is clear: Detective Kanoa Bristol attempted to execute my client Turi Ahina.”

The courtroom erupted, but I did not lose stride. Over the roar of the gallery I shouted, “This was not a botched arrest as the Honolulu PD would have you believe.” With my fist, I pounded on the jury rail as I allowed my face to glow red with rage. “This. Was. A. Hit.”

Donovan Watanabe leapt from his seat. “Objection, Your Honor. Mr. Corvelli is now making argument.”

“Overruled,” Narita said with a surprising urgency. “If Mr. Corvelli cannot back these claims up, then he will suffer the ramifications.”

“Rest assured, Your Honor,” I said above the chaos, “these are not baseless allegations. These are provable facts.” I spun back to the jury as the gallery finally quieted down. “How will I prove them? I will prove these allegations by showing you how evidence in this case was manipulated and eliminated. How witnesses were coerced and intimidated and even bribed.”

I took a step back from the rail and leveled my tone. “You, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, will come to understand during the course of this trial that, on the evening of the twenty-third of July, Turi Ahina faced what the law calls a ‘choice of evils,’ and that Turi Ahina shot and killed Detective Kanoa Bristol in self-defense.”

I paused to allow time for my words to sink in. “Ladies and gentlemen, the shooting of Kanoa Bristol on the night of July twenty-third was justified and necessary to prevent an innocent man from being assassinated. A man who was a threat to the Narcotics Intelligence Unit and the Honolulu PD as a whole. A man who had been arrested by the federal government and asked to divulge illicit information about how a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise was permitted to run with impunity throughout the island. The reason being, of course, that the criminal organization in question was being protected by numerous members of the Honolulu police force, including Detective Kanoa Bristol.”

Narita had to silence the crowd yet again. Once he did, I addressed every piece of evidence Dapper Don Watanabe had set forth in his opening. The eyewitness testimony, the so-called murder weapon, and the weapon found on the detective’s body, which the prosecution asserted was never fired that night. I addressed the number of bullet casings found at the scene, and the $5,000 recovered from Turi’s person following his arrest. I touched on each point once, and then again.

“You, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” I said a half hour later in closing, “will deliberate on one of the most important cases in the history of this state.

“You will put an end to the insidious corruption that currently plagues our island paradise.

“You will shed light on this dirty unit of this dirty police department in this otherwise idyllic city in this otherwise idyllic state.

“At the conclusion of this trial, you will say not guilty, and by saying not guilty, you will be saying to these dirty cops, ‘No more.’

“No more.”