Man arrested for stabbing neighbor placed on probation

Defendant’s health condition taken into account in plea agreement

WAILUKU -- A man who spent about a year and a half in jail after he was arrested for stabbing his neighbor was placed on four years' probation Friday.

In following a plea agreement to sentence Steven Martinez, 2nd Circuit Judge Kirstin Hamman said she was taking into account his age and serious health condition.

Martinez, 71, had pleaded no contest to first-degree assault.

Police were called to his neighbor's residence on Waiehu Beach Road shortly before 11 p.m. Oct. 11, 2020. An officer arrived to find a man standing outside the residence and holding the left side of his abdomen, which was bleeding, police said.

The man told police he had been watching television when his neighbors began yelling, so he went to his neighbors' unit, banged on the wall and yelled for them to be quiet.

He had gone back to his unit when Martinez showed up and began pounding on the door and yelling for the victim's roommate. The victim answered the door and said he had been the one banging on Martinez's door.

The victim went outside and began arguing with Martinez in the driveway when Martinez rushed the victim, who felt a poke on the left side of his abdomen, according to police. The victim reported pushing Martinez to the ground before he got up and went back to his residence.

The victim told police he realized he was bleeding but hadn't seen what he was stabbed with. He was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he required surgery for a stab wound to his left abdomen, police said.

Hamman said Martinez has convictions in California for serious violent offenses and has a "horrendous criminal record."

"If I look at your record and I look at this offense, it appears that you are a risk to the community," she told Martinez.

He said he moved to Maui in 2005 and helped build hotels in Kapalua and Kaanapali as part of his job.

"For 16 years, I only got one ticket," he said. "I changed my whole life around."

Hamman noted that in his youth, Martinez was in prison "for horrible crimes."

She said he was on parole in California when he left without permission and came to Maui.

Defense attorney John Parker said Martinez has a serious health condition that was a factor in reaching the plea agreement. While he was in jail in the assault case, Martinez was sent to an Oahu facility for months so he could receive critical treatment, Parker said.

"He does face a serious medical condition that could entail thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical expenditures," Parker said.

He said Martinez has health insurance while he is out of jail.

Deputy Prosecutor Carson Tani said the 537 days that Martinez previously spent in jail exceeded the jail time recommended as part of the plea agreement.

Judge Hamman told Martinez she would follow the agreement, "given your age and your health condition."

Martinez was ordered to complete anger management treatment. He also was ordered not to possess alcohol or illegal drugs.

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