HILO — A man accused of raping and killing his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter has been found fit to stand trial.

Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara yesterday set a trial date of Aug. 9 for Anthony Serges Poulin. The 30-year-old Poulin is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree sex assault, and abuse of a family/household member for the brutal slaying of Javieanne Win last Labor Day weekend.

The lifeless body of Win, a first-grader at Chiefess Kapiolani Elementary School, was found Sept. 5 in the bathtub of the Wainaku apartment Poulin shared with Win's mother, Jennifer Abiley. An autopsy found the girl had been sexually assaulted and drowned.

About a dozen of Win's family members, including Abiley, were in court as a psychiatrist and two psychologists testified that Poulin has the capacity to understand court proceedings and to assist in his own trial.

"This is a gentleman who has an associate's degree with an average IQ," Dennis Donovan, a state Department of Health psychologist, said in response to a question by Poulin's court-appointed attorney, Stanton Oshiro. "... My sense is that he was willing to look at any options that you laid out as to what's best for him."

Donovan said he believes Poulin "could handle the stress of a trial." He described Poulin as "surprisingly comfortable" during an hour-long interview conducted Oct. 1.

"Although he said he was depressed, he didn't show it," Donovan noted. "He didn't seem to worry about this. He indicated that once the truth came out ... it would all work out."

Poulin, who is in custody in lieu of $1 million bail, was transferred from Hawaii Community Correctional Center to Oahu Community Correctional Center after going on a hunger strike. According to Oshiro, Poulin has been assaulted twice in the Oahu jail and has since complained of "significant memory loss."

Under questioning by Oshiro, Donovan said he's unconcerned about Poulin's claim of memory impairment.

"Mr. Poulin has a documented history of making complaints that do not appear to be substantiated," Donovan asserted.

Another psychologist, Walter Jaeckle, said that he was initially concerned about Poulin's hunger strike, but also discounted his allegations of diminished recall.

"It's consistent with the general picture I have of the defendant," Jaeckle said. "Complaints are often exaggerated and magnified, and there's a long history of attempting to get reimbursement for things like that. Seems to be a bit of a pattern."

———

On the Net:

Read the complete story in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald: http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2010/04/30/local_news/local01.txt