Fuiavailili Tapua Alo v. Antone Olim, Individually and in His Capacity as Superintendent of the Hawaii State Prison

The district court, 477 F.Supp. 133 , granted Alo’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that his cross-examination at trial violated his constitutional right to due process. We affirm.

I. Facts

Alo was charged with attempting to murder his girl friend. At the trial the victim testified that they had quarreled, that he shouted obscenities at her and kicked her in the face and chest, and that he forced her to accompany him to a deserted area where he shot her with a .38 calibre gun. The State presented other evidence that the two bullets removed from the victim were fired by a .38 calibre gun and that paraffin casts made on Alo’s hand soon after his arrest showed the presence of dermal nitrates in a pattern suggesting a gunpowder discharge.

Alo testified on his own behalf, as the only defense witness. He stated that he had quarreled with the victim and had “kicked her in the face,” but then had gone for a walk. On direct examination Alo stated that when a police officer stopped him on his way back to the apartment,

On cross-examination the prosecutor questioned Alo regarding this exculpatory story:

The jury convicted Alo, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment…