THE ‘BOAT PEOPLE’ TRIAL Boat has only four crewmen, says witness

A ship mechanic said Friday that the fishing boat that ferried 51 undocumented aliens who were alleged to be heading toward Guam was manned by only four people, including himself, the pilot and two crew assistants.

Li Ming was one of the government witnesses who testified at the trial of six Chinese men charged with alien smuggling.

Five government witnesses, including three Coast Guard officers and the captain of the fishing vessel, have so far testified at the alien smuggling trial which is entering its second week today. The prosecution has a total of 24 witnesses.

At Friday’s trial, Li said the fishing vessel that ferried the undocumented aliens was provided by the “snake head” — the person who collected money from the passengers who wanted to be smuggled into Guam.

Ship captain Mr. Xiao told defense attorney Bruce Berline that he personally knew the “snake head” whom he identified as Zhao Yao.

Responding to Berline’s questioning, Xiao said he did not know if other crewmen had links with the snake head.

He also said he did not know if the Chinese government was aware of the location where the boat picked up the Guam-bound passengers from China’s Fujian province.

Defense attorney Eric Smith said last week’s trial had not discovered any new substantial findings other than what were already contained in the police and Immigration and Naturalization Service reports.

“There is nothing surprising that has come out. There’s been no smoking gun question and answer,” Smith told reporters during the court session break. “I was surprised with the ship captain’s responses. I was surprised that he did not know certain things.”

Charged at the US District Court are Xue Jian Hui, He, Xi Di, Shi Guo Rui, Gao Liang, Shi Peng, He Xiu Jin, who are referred to by the investigators as “enforcers.” The defense panel is composed of Berline, Smith, William Campbell, Linda Wingenbaugh, Ben Salas and Cindy Adams.

Of the 51 occupants of the fishing vessel, 10 were originally charged with alien smuggling. Four entered into a plea agreement with the government and have become the prosecution’s witnesses.

The six were charged with conspiracy to smuggling aliens, alien smuggling for profit, and smuggling aliens into a place other than the designated port.

Smith believes his client and the other defendants were only among the paying passengers.

“All the crewmen already pled guilty. All the other people on the boat said they paid either in full or a percentage of the amount for the voyage,” Smith said.

The prosecution has accused the six of beating up other passengers, although they were not charged accordingly in connection with such allegation.

Defense lawyers expressed hopes to see the case concluded as soon as possible.

At Friday’s trial, Berline asked Assistant US Atty. Gregory Baka to avoid asking “irrelevant questions.”

“We’re wasting our time,” Berline said.

Smith, for his part, said despite minor disruptions such as the language problem, the pace of the trial “is going at a speed that we had anticipated.”

Campbell said the defense panel avoids “going through the same things over and over” to ensure that the trial does not stretch out for months.

“This is a costly litigation and the judge doesn’t want to waste time,” Campbell said. “The pace is fine as long as we have enough time for each side to be able to prove their case.” (MCM)