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Napili man gets 10 years in prison for attack at bar

Two women also sentenced for roles in 2016 assault

WAILUKU — For a “senseless, disproportionate beating” last year at a Kaanapali bar, a Lahaina man was sentenced Thursday to a 10-year prison term.

Tevita Finau, 29, of Napili had agreed to the prison sentence as part of a plea deal recommending probation for his wife and sister-in-law. They also were sentenced Thursday for their roles in the assault that hospitalized a security guard.

“I take full responsibility for my actions, your honor,” Finau said in court. “I really, truly am sorry for what I have done. I hope that one day the Kaniho family will forgive me.”

Finau had pleaded no contest to first-degree assault of Michael Kaniho Jr. after a fight involving bar patrons broke out at about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 22, 2016, on the property of Paradise Grill and Mello’s Bar.

“For a human to go to the extreme and pound, kick someone who lays unconscious, to me is a cowardly act,” Kaniho said in court. “You almost took the father of three innocent children.”

While he was hospitalized in the intensive care unit, Kaniho said his father feared he would lose his only son.

“I do forgive you,” Kaniho said to Finau. “But I’ll never forget.”

Deputy Prosecutor Lyle Keanini said that Finau “brutally attacked” Kaniho “over and over again while the victim was either on all fours trying to get away or while the victim’s chest and face were on the ground.”

The attack continued “even while the victim was lying unconscious on the floor, down and defenseless,” Keanini said.

He said several bouncers and others “couldn’t protect the victim from defendant as he punched, hit and stomped on the victim’s limp and lifeless body.”

Kaniho’s injuries included bleeding in his brain, Keanini said.

The attack followed another assault on June 10, 2015, when Finau punched Ethan Cabatingan three times, fracturing his jaw, Keanini said.

He said that the victim’s jaw was wired shut for about six weeks.

Finau had been released after posting bail in that case when he was arrested for assaulting Kaniho.

In court Thursday, defense attorney Jon Apo said Finau wasn’t making excuses.

“The only tone we want to set here is the tone of apology to Mr. Kaniho,” Apo said.

Except for a harassment conviction in 2011, Finau has led a law-abiding life, Apo said.

“This seems to stem out of his extreme loyalty and faithfulness to his wife and family, which seems to have its origins in his appreciation for his mother’s role in his life,” Apo said.

When she was asked what had started the fight that night, Finau’s wife, Meleana Tuakoi Finau, said she had taken a drink outside the bar and was told to go back inside.

“I don’t know if I wasn’t listening or not,” she said during her sentencing. “And when you’re intoxicated, you’re a little clumsy. So I got shoved, and it just kind of escalated from there.”

Despite being under the legal drinking age of 21, her sister, Petiola Tuakoi, was also in the bar that night, Tuakoi Finau said.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been there,” Tuakoi said during her sentencing.

She said she had been in the club before and used her own identification, which bouncers “glanced at” before letting her in.

Asked what started the fight, Tuakoi said she saw her sister “get shoved.”

“It just went from there,” she said.

Tuakoi said she hit Kaniho after seeing him push her sister.

Her attorney, Walter Vierra, said surveillance video showed Kaniho appearing to be pushed down the stairs.

“I don’t think anybody pushed him,” Tuakoi said. “I think he fell. People were trying to get to him.”

Tuakoi, 21, and Tuakoi Finau, 29, both had pleaded no contest to reduced charges of second-degree assault.

Keanini said the charges reflected their roles in the assault. He said Tuakoi Finau was seen kicking the victim in the face, head and neck several times. Tuakoi was seen striking the victim’s head, face, back and neck several times while she was lying on the side of the victim as he lay on the ground, Keanini said.

Tuakoi and Tuakoi Finau were ordered to complete anger management classes as part of four years’ probation. They were given credit for time they had previously spent in jail — 87 days for Tuakoi, who was released from jail to have her baby, and about eight months for Tuakoi Finau.

“A lot of this came down to partial perception,” Apo said. “All Mr. Finau saw was his wife getting smacked around.

“Unfortunately, he hit the tail end of it and did the most damage. Unfortunately, his size and strength took over.”

Second Circuit Judge Richard Bissen said Finau’s initial statement to police “is in stark contrast” to what was said in court Thursday.

When police first spoke to him, Finau said he saw his sister-in-law being struck and said he “never laid a hand on” Kaniho, Bissen said.

In Finau’s other assault case, the victim, a co-worker of Finau’s wife, said he was asleep in his truck when Finau approached and struck the other man on each side of his face and in the middle, Bissen said.

The assault occurred after a day of drinking at an office picnic.

Finau told police he punched the other man once after being challenged to a fight, Bissen said.

Finau had pleaded no contest to second-degree assault in that case.

Referring to the assault on Kaniho, Bissen said, “I don’t think this beating, this severe beating, this senseless, disproportionate beating, had anything to do with protecting his wife.”

“I think it had everything to do with his poor judgment and the alcohol he must have had in him,” Bissen said. “When others tried to stop him, he asked them if they wanted some too. He would have hit anyone who was standing in front of him.

“Mr. Finau is the punisher, the one who hands out the punishment to Mr. Cabatingan and Mr. Kaniho,” Bissen said. “That’s not how it works. That will never be how it works. Our society will never accept that as being the way we do things. There will be accountability, and clearly this is what will happen today.”

The judge said that in a letter to the court, Finau seemed genuine in apologizing to Kaniho.

Bissen said he was following the plea agreement in sentencing Finau “to start that healing” that both sides seemed to want.

Finau, his wife and sister-in-law were ordered to pay a total of $3,382 in restitution.

In addition, Finau was ordered to pay $2,754 in restitution for his other assault case.

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

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