The Maui News

A man who was sentenced to prison after being convicted 11 years ago of sexually assaulting a woman had his case dismissed this week, after his guilty verdict was set aside this year by the state Supreme Court.

The prosecution dismissed the case against David Fleming with prejudice on Monday, when a trial date was to be set for him in 2nd Circuit Court.

“The decision to dismiss was not based on the facts of the case, which were proved beyond a reasonable doubt at trial in 2010,” said Deputy Prosecutor Elizabeth Nardi. “The conviction was overturned based on the court’s inability to determine if the defendant was competent during the trial, despite the determination being made he was competent prior to trial commencing. The state maintains its position that factually, defendant committed the sexual assault.”

Defense attorney Hayden Aluli, who was retained to represent Fleming after the trial, said 15 years of litigation in the case “has finally, finally come to an end for the Fleming family, who are just so grateful that this nightmare has ended.”

Without the support of Fleming’s mother and sisters, “David could not have successfully reached the outcome he reached today,” Aluli said Monday.

“Even though the wheels of justice are really slow in this case, it finally cranked to the ultimate end, and we’re so thankful,” Aluli said.

Fleming, now 61, had pleaded not guilty to first-degree sexual assault of the woman, who was a passenger in a taxicab he was driving the night of May 9, 2006, in Lahaina.

The 24-year-old woman left a Lahaina bar after having drinks and got into his van when he drove her to her apartment three minutes away, according to testimony at Fleming’s trial in 2010. The woman testified that after she paid the fare and got out, Fleming shoved her up against the taxicab and raped her in the complex parking lot.

Before his trial, Fleming had been twice examined by three appointed psychiatrists or psychologists who found him mentally fit to proceed.

During the trial and before Fleming testified, his attorney argued to the court that Fleming wasn’t mentally fit to proceed and asked for Fleming to be examined again. The court denied the request.

Following the guilty verdict, his sentencing to the mandatory 20-year prison term was delayed for more than four years, first after he was found mentally unfit to proceed and proceedings were suspended while he sought psychiatric treatment.

The court revoked his conditional release in September 2012 and he was committed to the Hawaii State Hospital for treatment.

He was found fit to proceed to sentencing in May 2014, before he was sentenced in July 2014.

Aluli said Fleming had been in state custody for nine years and seven months, starting when he was committed to the Hawaii State Hospital.

After being sentenced, he served time at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Ariz., before he was released on a $50,000 bond in June after the state Supreme Court order that vacated the conviction and sent the case back to 2nd Circuit Court.

Before the decision to dismiss the case, Nardi said she was able to make contact with the victim, “who is still suffering the long-term consequences of trauma associated with sexual assault.”

“The victim expressed that she wishes she had the strength to go forward but the case has taken a significant toll on her life for the past 15 years,” Nardi said. “She feels the Hawaii criminal justice system does not care about victims and how her life has been ruined as a result.

“Since we do not want to retraumatize the victim even further by having to testify again about the worst night of her life, we made the decision to dismiss the case.”