LIHUE — A defendant accused of pushing an island visitor off a Kalalau cliff 15 months ago pleaded guilty to an amended charge of reckless endangerment on Tuesday in 5th Circuit Court. The plea agreement means that Justin Wynn Klein,
LIHUE — A defendant accused of pushing an island visitor off a Kalalau cliff 15 months ago pleaded guilty to an amended charge of reckless endangerment on Tuesday in 5th Circuit Court.
The plea agreement means that Justin Wynn Klein, 38, of Kilauea, will not go to trial and face a charge of attempted second-degree murder. In the agreement, Klein agrees to serve the full five-year prison term for the class C felony.
“I was there that day and an accident happened and it caused an injury,” said Klein in his statement to the court on Tuesday on why he was changing his plea.
Judge Kathleen Watanabe said the court agreed to be bound by the terms of the plea deal. Without the agreement, the court would have the right to set aside the terms of the plea deal at sentencing.
Klein is pleading guilty to throwing a 31-year-old Japanese visitor off of a 15-foot cliff in the Kalalau Valley on Dec. 16, 2012. The victim, Azusa “Shita” Ino, from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, survived and recovered from her injuries before returning home with family.
Klein remained a fugitive until surrendering to police at Lydgate Beach Park on April 6, 2013. He pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder charge in April.
“I was there. I was involved, and she was with me,” Klein said later in the hearing.
The court ruled that Klein was mentally fit to proceed to trial on June 26, 2013.
State Public Defender Stephanie Sato requested the examination to answer the fitness question before Klein could consider options for his defense. Two of three examiners found Klein fit, and the attorneys and the court came to a consensus that Klein was fit.
Following the plea deal to a reduced charge, Sato asked the court to reduce Klein’s bail from $1 million to $10,000. The reason was not for Klein to bail out, she said, but it would improve his holding status at Kauai Community Correctional Center.
County First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Takata objected to the motion to reduce bail. He said the plea deal stipulation for a five-year prison term made the matter “a done deal.”
Watanabe scheduled a hearing to rule on the status of bail for April 1.
Klein also agreed to pay restitution to the victim as a term of the plea deal. The hearing paused as the attorneys changed the language so that it would allow Klein to object if the request were considered exorbitant.
The amended language was necessary since the victim’s medical bills have not been presented yet, Sato said.
The sentencing hearing is set for June 25.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or by emailing tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
