Prosecutors may seek a life-without-parole punishment for Corbit K. Ahn, indicted this morning on charges of sexually assaulting and murdering 19-year-old Iris Rodrigues-Kaikana last month in Kalihi.

Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Ikeda called Ahn a �career criminal� because he was convicted of second-degree assault and breaking into a motor vehicle in 2007 and is now on five years of probation for those offenses.
Those same convictions also qualify Ahn to be prosecuted as a �persistent offender� and if he is convicted, the state can seek an �extended term� of sentencing beyond the normal punishment for second-degree murder, life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Ahn, 29, was arrested by police last weekend on a charge of second-degree murder.
According to a police affidavit, Ahn and Rodrigues-Kaikana were present in a Kamehameha Homes apartment the night before her nude body was discovered in a nearby dirt alley.
Police also reported that DNA evidence found on the victim�s body matched Ahn�s DNA.
Ahn�s lawyer, Donald Wilkerson, said it is �ridiculous� to classify Ahn as a career criminal.
Wilkerson, who asserted earlier this week that police may have tampered with evidence in the Ahn case, found it significant today that authorities have now included the third-degree sex assault charge against his client.
�That implies that they don�t have DNA evidence� Wilkerson said.
The third-degree charge usually involves fondling or other sexual contact that wouldn�t be expected to produce DNA evidence, Wilkerson indicated.
He repeated his claim that evidence may have been tampered with but again declined to be specific about the allegation.
�It�s my understanding that the prosecutor�s office is investigating problems with the evidence,� he said.
Jim Fulton, executive assistant to Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, declined to to comment on Wilkerson�s statement.