WAILUKU - A man who broke another man's jaw in a confrontation at a Kahului beach area last year was given credit for about four months he previously spent in jail and was placed on one year's probation.
At the time of the Nov. 5 incident at the beach near Cary & Eddie's Hideaway restaurant, Glenn Bartlett, 45, was thinking of how he had been stabbed in the neck and chest, with a wound perforating his heart in 2009, said his attorney Andrew Martin.
"He was faced with an incident similar to this and he didn't act first," Martin said. "He almost lost his life because of this. He wasn't going to let what happened in 2009 happen again."
Bartlett had pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of third-degree assault of Darwin Talana.
Talana had followed Bartlett and two others when they went to use the restroom that night, Martin said. He said Talana let Bartlett know "that the beach they were at was his beach" and that Bartlett "better not think he was there to take over the area."
Martin said Bartlett punched Talana once "until he no longer felt a threat to his safety."
In court Wednesday, Bartlett apologized. "In hindsight, I wish I turned around and walked off," he said.
Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds said Talana's jaw was wired shut after the assault, and he required dental work.
"It's pretty evident everyone involved was fueled by alcohol," Simonds said.
He said Bartlett is considerably larger than the victim, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 122 pounds.
"Whether you were being reactive because of your prior time you were attacked or you were being proactive, you were the one who threw the punches," 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo told Bartlett. "You probably have 100 pounds on him if not more. Any way you cut it, the fight was unfair."
She ordered Bartlett to pay $5,001 in restitution to Talana and $100 to the state Criminal Injuries Compensation Commission, which had awarded the sum to Talana.
Bartlett, who had no local address and had been frequenting the Kihei area, was ordered to have no contact with Talana and to stay away from the beach area near the Hideaway restaurant.
