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WAILUKU -- With the victim's wife asking for justice, a Makawao man was taken into custody Tuesday to spend two years in jail for punching another man to cause his death.
Maui Kimo Fernandez, 49, also was placed on 10 years' probation as part of his sentence.
He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of 50-year-old Kahului resident Paul Stepper. He fell and died after being punched by Fernandez on July 24, 2018, while the two men were working at Kahului Airport during the construction of rental car facilities there.
Deputy Prosecutor Mike Kagami said Fernandez lied to the police, saying Stepper fell and he didn't know what happened.
"But we know that's not true," Kagami said. "According to an independent witness, this all occurred over a soda."
An investigation showed Fernandez was angry and said he was going to confront Stepper because he took Fernandez's soda earlier in the day, Kagami said.
He said the witness told police that Fernandez went up to Stepper and punched him. Stepper was transported to the hospital and died two days later.
A plea agreement between the defense and prosecution recommended probation rather than a 20-year prison sentence for Fernandez.
Kagami said the agreement "reflects the fact that, yes, this was one punch."
He said the jail term was needed to reflect the seriousness of the charge and deter others from similar crimes.
Deputy Public Defender Zach Raidmae asked the court to consider sparing Fernandez from any additional jail.
Fernandez was apologetic about what happened, Raidmae said.
"It's almost like an explosive moment of reality," he said. "It's unbelievable that happened."
When someone is punched, "most of the time, their face hurts, maybe a bone breaks," Raidmae said.
"We know this sometimes results in the death of a person, but it's unlikely," he said. "That's what's so surprising about this case."
Dozens of friends and family members showed up at the courthouse to support Fernandez.
Pastor Greg Dela Cruz of Living Way Church in Wailuku said Fernandez, a carpenter, has helped work with men leaving jail and struggling with addiction.
"Maui told everybody, 'I messed up. I shouldn't have touched him,' " Dela Cruz said in court. "Whether he's on the inside or outside, he's still going to help people. That's what he does."
Fernandez said he didn't plan what happened.
"This wasn't a calculated event," he said. "It was a split second reaction. We were trying to talk about it. I was trying to get a resolution. In a split second, something happened and it went really, really wrong."
He said he thought Stepper was going to wake up.
"I've had to deal with the consequences of my actions immediately," Fernandez said. "If I teach accountability, I have to be accountable. By the same token, I teach grace and I teach mercy. My deepest condolences and apology to all involved. We shouldn't even have to be here in this courtroom."
Kagami said it was clear from letters submitted to the court that Fernandez "has had a positive impact on others."
"Unfortunately, these two cases don't reflect those qualities," Kagami said.
Fernandez also had pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a rifle in July and August 2018. He said he wasn't supposed to have guns when he took his nephew hunting at Ulupalakua Ranch, according to court documents.
Court records show Fernandez has convictions for three counts of first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia in a 1994 case.
Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill noted that the gun crime, which occurred while the manslaughter case was pending, involved an AR-15 assault rifle.
With the number of people in the courtroom for Fernandez, "obviously, he's done so much good in the community," Cahill said.
"To take you away from the community, with all the good you have done and will continue to do in the future, it's a difficult task," Cahill said.
He read a portion of a letter from Stepper's wife that said: "God has taught us to forgive those who hurt us. Hopefully, we can all forgive each other and ourselves. But for now, justice is what we seek."
"There's the spiritual salvation, then there's justice," Cahill said. "We're here today not for spiritual salvation ... but we're here for justice."
The judge said he had to take into consideration the loss of Stepper. "Let's make no mistake about it. He's not here today and there's a reason why he's not here," Cahill said.
Addressing those in the courtroom gallery, he said: "For everybody else -- you ought to give some thoughts to the person who's not here because that's just as important as everything Mr. Fernandez has done in the past and everything he'll do in the future. That's the justice portion."
Fernandez was ordered to pay $17,128 in restitution, including the cost of Stepper's funeral expenses.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.