Assault with machete results in 5-year prison term | News, Sports, Jobs

WAILUKU – A man found guilty of assault after he was seen repeatedly striking a homeless man with a machete in Lahaina town was sentenced Wednesday to a five-year prison term.

“I cannot get out of my mind that he was using a machete to strike blows on this person,” 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill said in sentencing Maamaloa Uhila. “Even if it was the last blow that crossed the line, we just can’t have that out in the community.”

During a trial in March, a 2nd Circuit Court jury found Uhila, 19, guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree assault for the attack on John Bogac at about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 30, 2014, on Front Street and Lahainaluna Road.

Originally charged with second-degree attempted murder of Bogac, Uhila was acquitted of that charge, as well as attempted manslaughter and first-degree assault, Cahill said.

The jury acquitted Uhila of another second-degree assault charge of Megan Schlude, who testified she was cut twice by the machete after she intervened to try to stop the attack.

In court Wednesday, Uhila asked to be placed on probation and released from jail after already being incarcerated for 18 months.

“He has spent a year and a half really thinking hard about what he has done,” said his attorney, Ben Lowenthal.

He said Bogac’s life changed for the better after what happened that night. “He has been sober. He is no longer homeless,” Lowenthal said.

“I am not saying Mr. Uhila should be commended for what happened,” Lowenthal said. “But the fact is the direction of his life has changed because of that night. The same is true for Mr. Uhila. In a strange way, he has learned an awful lot about our society, the way we do things, the way the criminal justice system works.”

Lowenthal said Uhila had the support of his family and church.

Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds recommended the prison term to protect the community.

“The defendant himself admitted he had been drinking that night,” Simonds said. “When he becomes intoxicated, he becomes a very dangerous individual. He becomes combative. He does significant physical damage to other people.”

Simonds said police reports showed two men reported that Uhila had been part of a group of males drinking, smoking marijuana and possibly doing other drugs that night in Lahaina. The men told police Uhila was “argumentative and combative” and had punched another male, Simonds said. He said both men also reported seeing Uhila run across Front Street, run up to Bogac from behind and punch him in the back of the head, then in the face.

The men couldn’t be located to testify at trial, Simonds said.

“No one saw John Bogac attacking Mr. Uhila,” Simonds said. “The defendant is the only person who, incredibly, after denying that he attacked John Bogac, said he acted in self-defense.

“It took three officers to restrain him. He had to be carried to the patrol car. Once placed in the back seat, he kicked inside of the vehicle and ranted and raved.”

Bogac suffered a deep laceration to his left wrist that required doctors to reconnect severed ligaments, according to trial testimony. He now lives on Oahu with family, Simonds said.

In sentencing Uhila, Judge Cahill said he was considering only what was presented in the trial.

From the trial testimony, Cahill said it wasn’t clear how the incident between Uhila and Bogac started.

“I’m not sure Mr. Bogac was very clear about what happened that night,” Cahill said. “All I know is he was walking down Front Street with a foot-and-a-half-long machete in his backpack. I’m not sure it’s been explained how it got out of the backpack.”

In an interview with a police detective, Uhila said he used the machete against Bogac in self-defense.

“It appeared there were six separate strikes of the machete on Mr. Bogac,” Cahill said. “At some point you start to transgress that line.”

The machete was large but appeared to be dull, the judge said.

“He could have very well been hit with the flat side, but the point is a very dangerous weapon was used in committing this assault,” Cahill said. “That’s something I can’t factor out of the equation. He did have the capacity to make a judgment to do what he did.”

During the trial, jurors submitted 135 written questions, most of which were asked of witnesses, Cahill said.

“They were focused on very specific facts in this case,” he said. “Where did the backpack come from? Where did the backpack go? How did the machete get out of the backpack? Lots of them still haven’t been answered.

“They rendered a fair and just verdict for Mr. Uhila, and now’s the time to pay.”

Uhila, who was assisted by a Tongan interpreter in court, may be subject to removal from the U.S. based on his immigration status, Cahill said.

He said he would make no recommendation to the Hawaii Paroling Authority, which will set how much time Uhila serves before being eligible for parole.

Uhila is awaiting trial for second-degree assault in another case involving an attack on Front Street that occurred about a month before the machete attack. The victim in that case was a witness in the machete trial, Simonds said.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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