A new trial began Monday for Clyde Okada, of Waimea, the former shopkeeper accused of continuous sexual assault of his stepdaughter from June 1997-Jan. 2000, when she was about 10-12 years old. One of Okada’s defense attorneys, Mark Zenger, argued
A new trial began Monday for Clyde Okada, of Waimea, the former shopkeeper accused of continuous sexual assault of his stepdaughter from June 1997-Jan. 2000, when she was about 10-12 years old.
One of Okada’s defense attorneys, Mark Zenger, argued before Fifth Circuit Court Judge Clifford Nakea that the girl’s testimony on Monday didn’t match what she said in the December 2001 jury trial, which ended in mistrial.
County First Deputy Prosecutor Craig De Costa attempted to have the girl describe the first time she was allegedly molested by her step-father, but under cross-examination by Zenger she came close to admitting that she didn’t remember the specific details. In the previous trial, the girl described a scenario different from an earlier account of alleged abuse.
The alleged victim’s apparently faulty memory and “I don’t know” answers seemed to make her appear inconsistent to the jury, whose members began taking more notes when she took the stand.
Zenger insisted that the girl recall which was correct – Monday’s testimony or her words of last December.
During a 10-minute court recess, the girl hugged her mother and school friend, all three crying in the lobby as Clyde Okada passed through the hall with his other attorney, Randal Valenciano.
The girl testified that several times a week she would wake in the middle of the night from her couch bed in the family room and go to her parents’ room to sleep by her mother.
In addition to a videotaped interview for the Children’s Advocacy Center in March 2000, the alleged victim testified that she spoke with at least seven others, including a psychologist and sex assault nurse examiner. That interview raised the number of alleged abuses to over 100.
According to Zenger, in June 2000, the nurse examiner found old injures to the girl’s genitalia, including some that appeared to be about two weeks old.
This point was inconsistent with her testimony, because the girl said she was not molested since she left the Okada home in January 2000.
Last December, she testified that she was also molested by her step-grandfather (Richard Okada, now deceased) and would go into her parents’ room to avoid him, according to Zenger.
On Monday, she testified that her step-father molested her two or three times a week but not every week; for a total of about 20 times.
The girl, now 14 and living with her grandparents in Washington state, described to De Costa how Clyde would touch her “upper private parts” with his hands and her “lower private” with his hands and his own private parts.
She said she could not remember what time in the morning her mother woke up to help prepare food for Yumi’s Restaurant. She said that Okada molested her in their bed sometimes when her mother, a heavy sleeper, was also in the bed; and other times when her mom was already at work.
De Costa argued that the girl couldn’t tell what time she was getting molested or when her mother got up for work, if she was sleeping.
She testified to breaking into the Okada home with a screwdriver because she was locked out. She also testified Okada yelled at her and that soon after, she reported the sex assaults to her school friend though she claimed the “screwdriver incident” wasn’t the reason.
The girl’s mother also testified Monday. The mother and Clyde Okada are in the process of getting a divorce, according to the mother’s testimony.
The mother testified to her sleep and work schedule while living in the Okada home, and verified that she woke up at different hours before and after her father-in-law died.
She also testified that when her daughter ended up in their bed with she and Clyde Okada during the night, she closed the door when she was preparing food for Yumi’s Restaurant during the early morning.
Last December’s three-day jury trial ended in mistrial due to juror misconduct. According to that jury’s foreman, a juror told the rest of the group that a female relative of the Okadas said she was sexually assaulted by Clyde Okada.
Because of that juror’s bias, Nakea declared a mistrial.
In the summer of 2000, a grand jury indicted Okada on more than 100 counts of sexual assault against a minor. Prosecutors went forward with 21 counts, and during the trial, they dropped all but one count of continuous sexual assault against a minor. Okada faces a maximum term of 20 years if convicted.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
