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State v. Ganal5/8/1996
bed when they received a phone call. Michael answered the phone and said "hello" a few times, but no one responded. Michael, Wendy, and the two children were all sleeping in the main bedroom when Wendy awoke to the sound of Michael screaming. She got up and saw Michael on fire. Michael was saying, "He was here, he's here, he was here." Wendy said, "What?" and Michael said, "Orlando," and "Get out." Soon thereafter, Wendy was also on fire, and she tried unsuccessfully to get to the bathroom for some water, but the fire was too hot.
Michael and Wendy struggled to get out of the house, but could not open the front door because it was somehow locked from the outside. Wendy eventually managed to reach the kitchen door, where someone pulled her out. The Touchette children, Joshua and Kalah, died of thermal burns and smoke inhalation at the scene. Michael died later, on September 23, 1991, as a result of complications related to severe burns over eighty percent of his body. Wendy was severely burned over approximately forty percent of her body and suffered scarring over much of her face.
Fire investigator Glen Solem testified at trial that the fire at the Touchette house was intentionally started with a liquid accelerant, probably gasoline. Solem further testified that, based on the burn patterns and the patterns of broken glass on the floors, it appeared that two fires had been started separately in the living room and the bedroom from gasoline being thrown into the house.
3. The Young Laundry Premises
Young Laundry's night watchman, Suesue Faamamalu, testified at trial that he was on his patrol of the Young Laundry premises at approximately 12:00 midnight on August 25, 1991, when he discovered a fire burning on the second floor of the building. Young Laundry's manager, Michael Drace, testified at the grand jury proceedings that the Young Laundry plant operates twenty-four hours a day and that there are people working in the plant at all hours. Drace further testified that the sprinkler system extinguished the fire. Fire Investigator Warner Pukini testified at trial that his investigation indicated that the fire was intentionally set with a combustible liquid. The burn patterns suggested that the combustible liquid was poured towards the back exit, where they found a gas can that they suspected contained the accelerant. Ganal, Mabel, Jun Jun, and Ganal's tenant, Charles Robinson, all identified the gas can found at the Young Laundry premises as being similar to one that Ganal kept in his tool shed at home. After Ganal's arrest, a police search of Ganal's home, garage, and tool shed produced no gas can.
C. Events After August 25, 1991
Ganal testified that, after his phone conversation with Mabel, during the evening of August 25, 1991, he blacked out. The next thing he remembered was waking up the next morning perspiring in his truck at a beach in Makaha. He took off his clothes and his watch, left the key in the ignition, and went into the water dressed only in his underwear. Ganal further testified that, while he was in the water, someone stole his clothes, and, when he attempted to give chase, he cut his heel on a sharp object in the water. Unable to pursue the thieves, he drove home.
As Ganal drove home, the police were already aware of the events that had transpired at the Dela Cruz house, the Touchette house, and the Young Laundry premises. While on patrol, Honolulu police officers Robert Burns and George Clark recognized Ganal's license plate number and followed him. Once Ganal arrived at his home, he began to exit his truck to open the gate to his driveway, at which point officers Burns and Clark shouted to Ganal to stop and pu
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