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A Native Hawaiian man who was convicted of a hate crime towards a white man have to be re-sentenced, a U.S. appeals court docket dominated on Thursday, probably resulting in further years in jail.
Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced by a Honolulu choose in 2023 to six-and-a-half years after a jury discovered him and one other Native Hawaiian man, Levi Aki Jr., responsible.
The jury discovered the pair to be motivated by race once they punched, kicked and used a shovel to beat Christopher Kunzelman in 2014 for trying to maneuver into their distant village in Maui.
Alo-Kaonohi appealed the conviction, and prosecutors cross-appealed, difficult the choose’s ruling that the hate crime enhancement couldn’t be utilized to the sentence.
HAWAII MEN SENTENCED FOR RACIALLY MOTIVATED ATTACK AGAINST WHITE MAN
A Native Hawaiian man who was convicted of a hate crime towards a white man have to be re-sentenced, a U.S. appeals court docket dominated. (AP)
The ninth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals panel additionally dominated on Thursday to affirm Alo-Kaonohi’s conviction.
It was unclear precisely how for much longer Alo-Kaonohi may very well be required to spend behind bars.
Aki’s enchantment, together with prosecutors’ cross-appeal of Aki’s sentence of about 4 years, have been voluntarily dismissed, court docket data present.
Kunzelman’s spouse, Lori Kunzelman, instructed The Related Press on Thursday that she is glad prosecutors pushed for an extended sentence.
The Kunzelmans bought a dilapidated, oceanfront home as a result of they wished to go away Arizona after Lori Kunzelman’s a number of sclerosis prognosis.
“We had vacationed on Maui yr after yr — liked, liked, liked Maui,” she mentioned, noting that they noticed the house as an reasonably priced alternative that her husband might repair up.
Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced by a Honolulu choose in 2023 to six-and-a-half years after a jury discovered him and one other man responsible. (Getty Pictures)
She mentioned the beating of her husband destroyed her marriage, explaining that her husband suffered mind accidents that led them to undergo a divorce.
Christopher Kunzelman was touring in Europe and unavailable to deal with the ruling.
The pair nonetheless personal the property however they have no idea what to do with it, Lori Kunzelman mentioned.
“The households there will not enable anyone to step foot on that property,” she mentioned. “There’s a lot animosity.”
The usage of the phrase, “haole,” a Hawaiian phrase with meanings that embrace foreigner and white particular person, was central to the case. Dennis Kunzelman testified that the boys known as him “haole” in a derogatory manner.
2 NATIVE HI MEN TO BE SENTENCED FOR A HATE CRIME AFTER BRUTALLY BEATING A WHITE MAN
The ninth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals panel additionally dominated on Thursday to affirm Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi’s conviction. (Getty Pictures)
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Attorneys for Alo-Kaonohi and Aki mentioned it was Christopher Kunzelman’s entitled and disrespectful angle that irked them, not his race.
The Hawaii Innocence Undertaking plans to take up the case, in keeping with the group’s co-director, Kenneth Lawson. The group seeks to argue that an ineffective protection didn’t current to the jury the historical past of the phrase “haole” in Hawaii to indicate it’s not a derogatory time period.
“I simply don’t imagine that it’s a hate crime,” Lawson mentioned.
Lawson additionally mentioned the protection ought to have known as white, non-Hawaiian residents as witnesses to testify that they lived within the village with none racial points.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
