WAILUKU - Shawn Kalani Brown of Kahului, who denied inflicting blows that caused serious injury to a 29-year-old Kihei man outside a Kihei bar, was found guilty Friday of first-degree assault.
His co-defendant, Kawika Franco, 30, of Kihei, who also denied inflicting blows that caused the injuries, was found guilty of a lesser charge of third-degree assault by mutual affray.
A 2nd Circuit Court jury arrived at the verdicts on Friday after deliberating for about one day.
The two men were charged after Jamie Alexander was found covered in blood and unconscious on the pavement outside Oceans Beach Bar and Grill at the Kukui Mall in Kihei after an early-morning fight on June 15, 2008.
Both Franco and Brown, 33, testified they were defending themselves from others who wanted to fight after 1 a.m. and said they didn't see how Alexander was injured.
Alexander suffered a facial fracture, as well as a broken right sinus and nose. He required three staples for a laceration to the back of his head and had surgery to implant a permanent metal plate in the left side of his face. He said he sees a neurologist regularly and suffers from migraine headaches.
"I think the jury's verdict accurately reflects what occurred that night," Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds said Monday.
He said that Brown's kicking of Alexander while he was on the ground was uncalled for. "It wasn't self-defense. That's the message the jury sent with the verdict," Simonds said.
He said he will be seeking a 10-year prison term for Brown when he is sentenced Jan. 15.
Simonds said Brown was on parole for a second-degree robbery conviction in 2000 when the assault occurred.
Because Brown is a repeat offender, Simonds will ask that the defendant also serve at least three years and four months in prison before he is eligible for parole. Simonds will also ask that Brown serve consecutive terms for the old robbery case and the assault conviction.
Brown's defense attorney Chris Dunn could not be reached for comment Monday.
Defense attorney Keith Shigetomi, who represented Franco, said he thought the verdict was "well reasoned and understandable."
He said what occurred between Franco and the victim was a mutual fight that ended before serious injury was inflicted.
Franco was released on supervision after the verdict was announced Friday, court records show.
Shigetomi said he expects Franco to receive the maximum penalty of 30 days in jail when he is sentenced Jan. 15. Franco has already served all of that time, Shigetomi said.
During trial, Alexander said he didn't know how he was injured. But as he was leaving the bar when it closed at about 1 a.m., he said he had a verbal altercation with a man he identified as Brown, who was also in the bar.
Alexander said he was driving out of the parking lot to go home when he stopped behind a white pickup truck fronting Oceans and saw men including Franco get out of the truck and move toward him. Alexander woke up in the hospital.
Jason Ring, who was working as a sound technician at the bar that night, said he was outside smoking a cigarette after the bar had closed when he saw a man he later identified as Brown across the street. Brown was walking back and forth and talking on a cellular telephone, Ring said.
"It looked like he was angry with somebody," Ring said.
He said Brown walked across the street and approached the driver when a white Toyota pickup truck pulled in front of the bar. A blue pickup truck pulled up right behind the white truck, Ring said, and the driver of the white truck got out and walked over to the driver of the blue truck, who also got out.
Ring identified Franco as the driver of the white truck and Alexander as the driver of the blue truck.
"I didn't even hear any words," Ring said. "I see the driver of the white truck start swinging."
He said Franco delivered "at least 15 to 25" punches, connecting three or four times to the head of Alexander, who was swinging to try to defend himself, then fell to the ground. That's when Brown sprinted toward Alexander and kicked him in the head, Ring said. "They were viciously attacking him," Ring said.
He saw Brown get into a car to leave and memorized the license plate number, which he provided to police. Brown was sleeping in the car outside a Kahului residence when he was arrested a few hours later.
The truck that Franco was in was stopped shortly after leaving the shopping center.
Second Circuit Judge Richard Bissen presided over the trial.
Brown remains in custody.
