"How was ___ know?"

ITO

This phrase often follows a surprising revelation and sounds like a short question about a famous Japanese-American figure involved in a historic trial.

This clue plays on the famous line "How was I to know?"—a phrase often used to express surprise or regret. By dropping the "w" from "was" and splitting "I to," you get "I TO," which sounds like the surname "Ito." It’s a clever bit of wordplay that turns a common expression into a name.