HONOLULU: Ten years after a federal agent shot and killed a man during an altercation in a Hawaii fast-food restaurant, Honolulu’s prosecuting attorney announced Monday his office will not seek a third trial in the case.
U.S. State Department Special Agent Christopher Deedy was in Honolulu helping with security for the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. He was off-duty and bar-hopping with friends on his first night in Waikiki when he fatally shot Kollin Elderts in a McDonalds.
Deedy testified at two trials that he was protecting others from the aggressive Elderts. Prosecutors have said Deedy was drunk, inexperienced and fueled by warnings from a fellow agent that Hawaii locals are hostile toward federal workers and outsiders.
A 2013 murder trial ended in a hung jury. A second jury in 2014 acquitted Deedy of murder but deadlocked on manslaughter.
A federal appeals court ruled that if prosecutors wanted to try Deedy a third time, it can only be for assault, not manslaughter.
Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm said the evidence presented at two trials were virtually the same, and a third trial would likely result in another hung jury.
Deedy’s attorney, Thomas Otake, said he would comment on Alm’s decision later on Monday.
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