Key defense witness tells of fear, tragedy

Just before they embarked on the fatal trip during the early hours of that morning, Mr. Tupu told the Court that Kohlhase “looked drunk.” He said she was extremely “chatty,” “loud” which indicated to him that she “she was drunk.”

A key witness in the on-going trial of a 19-year-old girl accused over an incident that killed two young men last year, told the Court yesterday that the accused refused to hand them the keys of the car.

Fa’atoia Tupu, 21, of Sinamoga, was among the four people in the vehicle that crashed at Vailoa last year, killing Jessie Risale, 22, of Vaimoso and Thesaurus Heather, 20, of Tufuiopa.

Mr. Tupu yesterday gave evidence that the defendant, Leslie Kohlhase, was indeed the driver of the vehicle.

Kohlhase has pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter and two alternative charges of negligent driving causing death.

She is represented by lawyers, Lei’ataualesa Daryl Clarke and Leilani Tamati.

The prosecution team consists of Precious Chang and Leone Su’a Mailo, of the Attorney General’s Office. The Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiava’asu’e Falefatu Sapolu is presiding over the assessor trial.

Just before they embarked on the fatal trip during the early hours of that morning, Mr. Tupu told the Court that Kohlhase “looked drunk.” He said she was extremely “chatty,” “loud” which indicated to him that she “she was drunk.”

The witness told the Court about an after party at the Le Well complex where the defendant drank whisky, which was extremely strong. This was at the end of a night out at the Y-Not club where they had also been drinking.

At the after party, Mr. Tupu said they were told to leave after neighbours called the Police complaining about the noise.

Before they got on the truck, the witness testified that he and the late Mr. Risale had an argument with Kohlhase because she refused to hand over the keys of the vehicle to allow someone else to drive.

He said they knew she was very drunk.

“But she said no,” Mr. Tupu said. “It was like something funny to her when she was asked for the keys.”

The witness said they gave up.

So he and Mr. Risale jumped onto the back of the vehicle. Simon To’omalatai apparently hopped in at the front with Kohlhase. To’omalatai was dropped off at Treasure Garden.

When they left the Treasure Garden, the witness told the Court they thought they were heading home.

They didn't. Instead, Mr. Tupu said Kohlhase slowly drove through the red lights.

It was not until they reached Vaimoso when she started to speed up, speeding through the road humps.

“She didn’t go slow and she went over the humps where she should have slowed down,” he said.

Asked by Ms. Chang how he felt at the time, Mr. Tupu said his mind didn’t register anything then.

However, he recalled that the tray of the vehicle flipped up.

He said he and Mr. Risale tried tapping the side of the vehicle and calling out to Kohlhase to slow down but she did not.

When they reached Lepea, the witness said that’s when he started to “feel fear” because Kohlhase continued to pick up speed.

The witness broke down on the stand, saying he “felt scared.”

He said he and Mr. Risale had to hold on tight to the vehicle’s bars because Kohlhase was speeding.

The witness could not recall what Mr. Risale was doing because he was too busy trying to hold on tight.

At Vailoa, Mr. Tupu said the vehicle’s tray swung side ways before it spun out of control.

“She couldn’t control the car,” he said.

According to the witness, this was all he remembered because he fainted.

“When I came back to life, I found that half my body was laying on the grass and the other half was on the side of the road on the dusty part,” he said.

While he was struggling to get to where the vehicle was, he said he saw Mr. Risale’s body next to an electrical post. He appeared dead.

During Mr. Tupu’s evidence, a family member of one of the two deceased boys left the Court room with tears streaming down her face.

Inside the Court, other family members were also in tears.

The hearing continues.