The 29-year-old Kapa‘a man who pled no contest for his role in a May stabbing incident at Baby Beach was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison last week, according to court records. Joshua Sesco, guilty of first-degree assault,
The 29-year-old Kapa‘a man who pled no contest for his role in a May stabbing incident at Baby Beach was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison last week, according to court records.
Joshua Sesco, guilty of first-degree assault, sunk a knife into the midsection of 49-year-old Curtis Bupp Jr. following a heated argument at a beach gathering.
Bupp, who briefly “flat lined” at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, according to a police report in court records, said this week he agreed with 5th Circuit Chief Judge Randal Valenciano’s sentence.
“I feel better, the whole thing has been really hard,” he said. “I’m just glad to see that justice happened.”
In a hand-written version of the testimony he provided at the sentencing hearing, Bupp talked of the “true emotions of suffering, pain, hardships and the downward spiral” caused by the “vicious violent attack.”
Bupp also said he wanted to offer his appreciation to the staff at Wilcox, as well as the Kaua‘i Police Department and the County Prosecutor’s Office, for their help from the May 15 incident through the Nov. 25 sentencing.
In exchange for Sesco’s Sept. 2 plea, charges were reduced from second-degree attempted murder. The 10-year sentence is a stark drop from the life sentence, without the possibility of parole, that he could have received if convicted of the original count.
A sentencing memorandum filed by court-appointed attorney Daniel Hempey said Sesco agreed to the plea because “he was unwilling to risk a verdict that would have prevented him from ever seeing his (3-year-old) daughter again.”
In the memo, Hempey wrote that Sesco “recognizes the gravity of his actions” and “admits serious mistakes in judgment.”
Bupp described Sesco’s sentiments as a “fast apology” and reiterated his belief that Valenciano had made the right call in declining to give Sesco probation.
The length of Sesco’s incarceration will actually be determined by the Department of Corrections’ parole board based on his prior criminal record, the nature of the crime, and other factors, Hempey said.
“The minimum term hearing hasn’t been set yet, and they’re free to set his actual minimum term of imprisonment from anywhere from time served to an actual 10 years,” Hempey said in a phone interview yesterday.
The parole board will likely be asked to consider the sentencing memo that asked Valenciano to sentence Sesco to probation instead of incarceration on the grounds that Sesco was acting in self-defense and described the idea that the stabbing was an “unprovoked attack” as a “false allegation.”
According to a police report in court records, when officers first responded to the scene, Sesco was found “unconsious (sic), laying on his stomach next to his vehicle and bleeding heavily from his facial area.”
The defense memo suggested there had been a conflict between patrol officers and detectives over whether or not to bring charges against those who had “savagely beaten” Sesco before, during and after the stabbing, referencing a report provided by private investigator George Freitas, former chief of KPD.
Valenciano will also preside over a hearing in early January to determine what restitution, if any, Sesco will pay as compensation. Bupp said he hopes to be reimbursed for medical expenses.
