LIHU‘E — The defendant involved in a Koloa domestic shooting incident was sentenced to probation with jail time Thursday in 5th Circuit Court. Dominador Padua, 48, received an 18-month jail sentence, the maximum allowed with a five-year probation. The attempted
LIHU‘E — The defendant involved in a Koloa domestic shooting incident was sentenced to probation with jail time Thursday in 5th Circuit Court.
Dominador Padua, 48, received an 18-month jail sentence, the maximum allowed with a five-year probation. The attempted first-degree assault charge was reduced from the attempted murder of his former wife on May 22, 2011.
Padua was allegedly shot his spouse in the thigh through a closed door with a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver. She had just fled from a verbal altercation and closed the door when he fired the gun from 3-feet away, said County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jake Delaplane in court.
Speaking with the aid of a Tagalog interpreter, Padua said he asked forgiveness from the court, his ex-wife, his children, the police and community for what he had done.
Defense attorney Craig De Costa asked the court to give Padua probation with the maximum jail sentence. He said it was a crime of passion with unique circumstances, and that letters of support, the lack of a prior record and his divorce make it unlikely that he would reoffend.
Delaplane asked the court to sentence Padua to a 10-year sentence without probation, and a five-year minimum before eligible for parole. He said this was not a crime of passion, and that Padua illegally purchased the gun after expressing paranoid beliefs that his family and the police were out to get him and that his wife was unfaithful.
Had his own teenage daughter not placed herself in danger between the door and the defendant, Padua might have continued the assault against his wife, Delaplane said.
Padua acquired a handgun without a permit and had it improperly stored along with the ammunition in a place where minors could access the weapon, Delaplane said.
Chief Judge Randal Valenciano said the situation could have been much worse and that it was fueled by a combination of marital problems, alleged infidelity and substance abuse. He said Padua’s lack of history helps but that the addiction and firearms violation did not.
Valenciano placed Padua in the HOPE Probation program (Hawai‘i’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement). Typically, a HOPE probationer is allowed some latitude for infractions before eventually risking revocation.
The judge informed Padua that he would not have second chances. He said if the probation office finds him in non-compliance that he would be brought before the court for possible revocation and could face the full term.
Padua received a one-year probation for firearms and ammunition charges. He will serve concurrent six month jail terms for each misdemeanor charge.
The sentencing order also states that Padua must complete domestic violence intervention and child-parenting classes. He was ordered to go through an substance abuse evaluation and has a stay-away order from his ex-wife.
Padua and his wife, who is also the victim in the case, divorced officially after the incident but before his change of plea and sentencing.
The court ordered a copy of the divorce decree to determine what, if any, portion of the medical bill incurred by the victim is to be part of a restitution order.
The case was heading toward a B-felony murder trial when in April Valenciano granted a defense motion to suppress Padua’s statements given to police without benefit of an interpreter.
Padua has been held at Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center since his arrest in lieu of $516,000 bail.
∫ Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
