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Jury starts deliberations in Reyes trial
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Posted on Dec 12 2013
A Superior Court jury started deliberations yesterday afternoon in the case against Alfredo E. Reyes, a 51-year-old man who is on trial for allegedly sexually abusing a then-16-year-old girl in 2009.
The six jurors were sent home at 5pm after they failed to reach a unanimous verdict. They will return to court at 8:15am today, Friday, to continue their deliberations.
Assistant public defender Michael Sato rested the defense’s case after calling to the witness stand yesterday the brother and half-brother of the alleged victim. On Wednesday, Sato called to the witness stand the alleged victim’s two sisters.
Sato then moved for a judgment of acquittal, but Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho denied the motion.
Reyes broke down in loud sobs as assistant attorney general Barbara Cepeda was making his closing arguments yesterday, briefly halting the trial. Some of Reyes’ children sitting behind him also cried. Assistant public defender Matthew Meyer, co-counsel for Sato, talked to Reyes, who continued to cry but quietly. Sato and Cepeda completed their closing arguments shortly before noon.
The jurors then began their deliberations in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, the alleged victim, who is now 20 years old, narrated how Reyes sexually abused her at Laulau Beach in May 2009, at the Coral Ocean Point beach in September 2009, and in a jungle area by the Hawaiian Rock Co. in December 2009.
