Friends, relatives and supporters of the parties involved in the much-publicised hearing of a 19-year-old accused over the deaths of two young boys last year will have to wait a little longer for the verdict.
Yesterday, when the hearing was scheduled to have wrapped up, the parties were informed by the Deputy Registrar, Veatauia Fa’atasi Puleiata that Chief Justice Patu Tiava’asu’e Falefatu Sapolu was “feeling unwell.”
As a result, the hearing was adjourned until Tuesday since tomorrow is a public holiday for Father’s Day.
Kohlhase faces four charges in relation to the deaths of Jessie Risale, 22, of Vaimoso and Thesaurus Heather, 20, of Tufuiopa.
She has pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter and two alternative charges of negligent driving causing death.
Kohlhase is represented by Lei’ataualesa Daryl Clarke and Unasa Leilani Tamati.
They are up against the prosecution team made up of Precious Chang and Leone Su’a Mailo, of the Attorney General’s Office.
His Honour Patu is presiding over the assessor trial.
Yesterday, Lei’ataualesa was scheduled to complete his final submission, which started on Friday.
At the time, the lawyer reiterated that Kohlhase did not drive the vehicle when it crashed. He reminded the assessors that they have already provided witnesses, including one Fesola’i Laki Ifale, who saw Kohlhase walking away from the driver’s side.
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“The deaths of Jessie Risale and Thesaurus Heather is no doubt a tragedy,” said Leiataualesa. “They were two young men with their lives ahead of them.”
Their deaths have had a ripple effect on the community, he stressed.
But the incident has also meant that Kohlhase’s life “has been changed forever.”
He said her client has been deeply affected by what had happened.
So for her sake, he said “justice” must be done and to achieve this, “make sure the right person is punished.”
Referring to his client, Lei’ataualesa said it would be an injustice if the wrong person were convicted for the crime. Further, convicting the wrong person would also be an injustice to the late Mr. Risale and Mr. Heather, he said.
Kohlhase’s lawyer said evidence throughout the past three weeks have proven that her client was not the driver when the crash happened.
But Mrs. Su’a-Mailo strongly disagreed.
During her final submission, she told the assessors that if they look back through the evidence presented during the past three weeks, the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that Kohlhase indeed drove the vehicle.
Further, it has been established quite clearly that the accused drove recklessly that night, endangering the lives of people in the car.
More than 20 witnesses including police officers, medical doctors, as well as eyewitnesses at the crash site have all testified about what they saw.
“The prosecution’s submission is that Leslie did drive the vehicle at the material time of the accident,” the assessors were told.
“It all boils down to who was the driver of the car. I ask you not to be side tracked with Fa’atoia [Tupu being the driver].”
Mrs. Su’a-Mailo said this particular case was a “very tragic and sad story” and those involved were “very young.”
That aside, the law states that when a person acts negligently, he/she must be punished,
“The law does not differentiate on who it applies to, it applies to all people who are in charge of a motor vehicle.”
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