LIHUE — A man serving five years in prison for beating up a man at Kalapkai Joe’s wants a lighter sentence. Nicholas Char appeared before Judge Kathleen Watanabe on one count of assault in the second-degree Wednesday for a hearing
LIHUE — A man serving five years in prison for beating up a man at Kalapkai Joe’s wants a lighter sentence.
Nicholas Char appeared before Judge Kathleen Watanabe on one count of assault in the second-degree Wednesday for a hearing to discuss getting a different sentence.
“We are opposing that motion, we believe the prison sentence was appropriate,” said Justin Kollar, prosecuting attorney.
Char’s lawyer, Mark Zenger, asked for a three-week continuance, which would give him time to gather information.
“There are three reasons for that,” Zenger said. “The first is that we got information from the state about an incident at Safeway, and I need to discuss it with Mr. Char. The second is that one of the important witnesses is not available, and the third is that I was served with a motion to quash.”
A motion to quash is a request to make documents like subponeas, injunctions and indictments invalid.
Zenger proposed dealing with the motion to quash and to reconsider the sentence on the same date.
On Dec. 14, 2015, Char, 35, ordered four to five rounds of shots and drank six to seven beers at Kalapaki Joe’s. He also picked a fight with a friend, which broke out into the parking lot, said Keola Siu, deputy prosecuting attorney.
Security was called and Char was barred from entering the restaurant. But he came back and punched Nakana Duarte in the back of the head.
Duarte’s head hit the concrete floor, leaving him unconscious.
Duarte was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, then medevaced to Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu with life-threatening injuries, including a fractured skull with two bleeding contusions. He was released two weeks later and is still recovering.
Char will be back in court on April 26.
