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WAILUKU -- Saying a defendant had shown no remorse, a judge ordered a five-year prison term Wednesday for a man convicted of a hammer attack on a woman working at a Waiehu business.
"It's truly remarkable that this victim survived this attack and that we were not here on an even more serious charge," 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen said in sentencing Ramoncito Abion.
In a trial in March, Abion, 51, of Wailuku was found guilty of second-degree assault of the woman on Jan. 11, 2016, at Waiehu Super Stop on Waiehu Beach Road.
The employee had told Abion to move away from the area before he followed her quietly down an alley, waited for her to turn her back, then hit her in the back of her head with the hammer, according to testimony at his trial.
"It was a direct hammer strike to the head of a completely innocent person," said Deputy Prosecutor Brandon Segal. "He fractured her skull and caused her pain and injury, not just physically but mentally."
Segal said it was evident during the trial that the victim and her co-workers were shaken. "They could barely look at the defendant without breaking down," Segal said.
While the prosecution sought a prison term, Abion asked to be placed on probation after already having been incarcerated for more than two and a half years.
"He was hearing voices on that day," said Deputy Public Defender Nikki List. "It is completely uncontested that he was not under the influence on that day and time, but he was hearing voices talking to him."
Abion has no prior criminal history, she said.
"Aside from this incident, he has managed to lead a pretty law-abiding lifestyle," she said. "This is a mental health issue."
Segal said Abion's voluntary abuse of drugs shouldn't be an excuse for what he did.
While the case was pending, three psychiatrists or psychologists who examined Abion found him mentally fit to proceed to trial, Judge Bissen said. "They say he's in the condition he's in because he used crystal methamphetamine, and that's not a valid defense," Bissen said.
Despite the defense saying that the victim had swept dust in Abion's face as he lay outside the business, the victim testified that hadn't happen, Bissen noted.
"It seems like the defendant was just fed up with being asked to leave," Bissen said. "It had nothing to do with any action taken by the victim, except to say, 'You got to move on.' It's fair to say the only reason the victim survived the attack is because there happened to be two people at the gas pump who saw her in the alley."
Otherwise, the victim might not have been found in time, Bissen said.
Abion was described as calm while attacking the woman, who felt threatened by the look Abion gave her, Bissen said. Afterward, he put the hammer in his backpack and walked away.
A police officer responding to the assault arrested Abion nearby.
"He exhibits no remorse and really no conscience about what's occurred," Bissen said. "The defendant's response was totally out of proportion of what he was being asked to do, which was to leave the area or not be in the immediate area where customers were coming in."
The judge said Abion didn't try to help the woman afterward.
"This is not a case of probation," Bissen said. "If you're going to commit a first offense, this is the wrong offense. The defendant could have killed this lady. She only lived because of the good Samaritans who were there."
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.