Jury trial commenced Tuesday for a 21-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting an elderly woman in 2019 at a South Kohala campground.
Zeth Browder, who was 18 at the time of the alleged incident June 15, 2019, at Spencer Beach Park, is charged with two counts each first-degree sexual assault and third-degree sexual assault and one count each first-degree burglary, kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
In opening statements, Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Yamamoto laid out the state’s case by relaying statements made by the now 80-year-old-victim about the alleged assault. The Honolulu City and County Prosecutors Office is litigating the case due to an undisclosed conflict of interest with the Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.
The victim, who is from Colorado, made a yearly trip to the Big Island to visit family and friends. Her plans included a four-day camping trip to Kawaihae with a friend, who had to cancel last minute because of a back injury. The victim decided to go alone, as she was familiar with the beach, having camped there during 15 previous visits to the island.
Browder’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender James Greenberg, countered in his opening statement that there was a rush to judgment by the police, and conflicting accounts by the victim.
“You have to pay close attention to the evidence and give a just verdict,” he told the 12 jurors and three alternates.
First to take the stand were two of the initial Hawaii Police Department officers on the scene around 6:40 a.m. June 15, 2019. The officers testified separately about making contact with the victim, taking the woman’s statement accusing Browder of rape, arresting Browder, collecting evidence and speaking with witnesses.
Officer Robert Ayau testified the then-78-year-old victim was very emotional, scared and crying when he arrived at the Kawaihae campground. After he and fellow officer, Jonathan Kailiuli. gathered the woman’s statement accusing Browder of rape, the teen was located sleeping on a picnic table and arrested without incident.
Ayau also testified he collected items from the woman’s tent for processing, but was unable to locate the woman’s underwear, which she stated she had disposed of prior to the arrival of police.
While there were multiple campers, Ayau stated he only spoke to the two women who helped her call 911. Kailiuli spoke only to the victim.
The victim, a retired nurse, took the stand and gave her version of events that led up to the assault. West Hawaii Today does not name victims of sexual assault unless they wish to be identified.
The 80-year-old woman recounted arriving at the campsite on June 12. While setting up her camp, she encountered Browder, who she said helped her when she dropped a bag of ice. The teen, who was the only other camper in the area at the time, did not speak to her.
Later that day, she encountered another man “Matthew” camping with Browder. That night, she said, Matthew approached her while she was cooking and told her they didn’t have any food. She shared her food with them.
The victim testified that on June 13 she provided the men with a ride to a store when she needed to purchase more ice for herself. The following day, Browder told her he was homeless, didn’t have family and was sustaining himself with food from the ocean. Later, he asked her to give him a ride to his grandmother’s house in Waimea, which she did. When they returned to the campground, other campers began to arrive.
After watching the sunset, the victim told the court she went back to her tent sometime between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and settled in for the night
Sometime around 3 a.m. she was startled awake when she felt “something like a black bear on my back.” The woman testified she could not move at all because her attacker was so much larger than herself.
“I asked what do you want? He pulled my body up and arched my head back and put something dark over my head,” she testified. “I said I couldn’t breathe and he put his hands over my neck. He told me to put my hands over my eyes and said ‘don’t move or I will kill you.’”
That is when she said she recognized Browder’s voice.
“I did what he said because I was scared he was going to kill me,” she said. “Next thing I knew, he flipped me over on my back and said ‘do what I say.’”
She said Browder proceeded to sexually assault her, telling her she had to help him.
“He said ‘you have to want me,’” she testified.
He then forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Afterward, she stated she felt a sharp object pressed against her back, and Browder pushed her head into the ground, where she sustained bruises. Again he told her “don’t move, don’t look at me or I’m going to kill you.”
After he left the tent, the victim said she went to the bathroom. No one else at the campsite was awake, but she heard Browder asking her if she was leaving, to which she replied she was just going to the bathroom.
Instead, she went to her car and called the first person on her favorites list, who happened to be a friend in North Carolina. She said she was too scared and shaken to call 911.
“I just knew I had to get to people,” she said. She sat on a bench next to another camper’s tent. She said she tried to wake the person up, but they were sound asleep, so she just waited there until someone woke up. Another camper saw her sitting on the bench crying and approached her. She told the other camper she had just been raped and that camper called 911.
Later that day, the victim went to Kona Community Hospital for a sex assault examination.
Under cross examination, Greenberg pointed out discrepancies in the statement the victim gave to the police officers, nurse and detective in charge of the case. He argued the woman said in her initial statement to police that she had not retired to her tent until 2:30 a.m. after spending the evening getting to know the other campers the night of the alleged incident.
The woman testified said she did not recall making that statement. As Greenberg pressed her on inconsistencies, she said she was in shock and did not recall making the conflicting statements.
Browder has been in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center since his arrest June 15, 2019.
Trial continues today, with testimony expected to wrap up Thursday.
First-degree sexual assault and kidnapping are class A felonies punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; first-degree burglary is a class B felony that carries a 10-year sentence; and third-degree sexual assault in a class C felony punishable by five years behind bars. Evidence tampering is a misdemeanor offense
Because prosecutors intend to seek enhanced sentencing measures if Browder is convicted of two or more the felony counts he faces longer terms behind bars. Such enhancement would mean a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the class A felonies and double the time behind bars for the class B and C felonies.