Two men sentenced in domestic abuse cases for assaulting their wives

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The two men convicted for assaulting their wives were sentenced in High Court last week and yesterday morning to terms of probation.

(Samoa News usually does not publish a defendant’s name in domestic cases to protect the victim.)

One of the defendants is a man from Ottoville while the other one is from Pago Pago.

DEFENDANT FROM OTTOVILLE

A man accused of using the steel handle of a broom to assault his wife, causing injuries to the victim, has been sentenced to serve 20 months imprisonment after being convicted of second-degree felony assault.

The defendant was initially charged with first-degree assault, a felony punishable by possible life in prison, or a sentence to less than 10 years and not more than 30 years in jail.

But under a plea agreement with the government accepted by the court, the government amended the initial count down to second-degree assault, which is still a felony, but punishable by five years imprisonment or a fine of $5,000.

Court information states that the defendant’s wife suffered serious injuries due to the assault, in which the defendant first used his fist and then used the handle of a broom to continue the assault.

The 41-year-old defendant was in Court last week for sentencing where he apologized for his crime and sought leniency in sentencing. He told the court that he is remorseful and his action was wrong. However, the defendant didn’t offer an apology to his wife.

The defense attorney told the court that his client is prepared to accept whatever the decision the court makes. The defense attorney echoed the Probation Office’s recommendation for the defendant to be sentence to probation.

The prosecutor supported a probative sentence and for the defendant to attend and complete anger management counseling.

The Court said that while the defendant used the broom’s handle to assault the victim, the defendant’s action still resulted in serious inquiries to his wife.

The Court noted that the court was not clear on the martial status of the defendant and his wife, who had filed for divorce, but the court understands that the wife had recently moved to withdraw the divorce action.

The Court then announced sentencing of 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine, but both were suspended under several conditions, including that the man serves 20 months as part of his 5-year probation as well as paying $150 fine, while the remaining balance of the $5,000 fine was also suspended — all is dependent on the defendant complying with all conditions of probation.

He was also ordered to attend and complete anger management counseling as well as being prohibited from consuming alcohol or illegal drugs.

Because the court was not clear as to the martial status of the couple, the defendant is prohibited from going to the wife’s family home, where she is residing.

DEFENDANT FROM PAGO PAGO

The man convicted of assaulting his wife appeared in Court yesterday morning for sentencing.

The 39-year-old defendant was charged by the government in two separate incidents.

In the first case, the defendant was charged with 3rd- degree assault involving domestic violence and PPD, both misdemeanors. The defendant pled guilty to the 3rd- degree assault charge under a plea agreement with the government while the PPD charge was dismissed by the court, according to terms of the plea agreement.

By his guilty plea, the defendant admits that in September of last year, he assaulted his wife by slapping her face multiple times and kicking her back.

The defendant pled guilty to the charge of 3rd-degree assault while the remaining charges were dismissed by the court.

By his guilty plea, the defendant admits that in October of last year, he assaulted his wife after he found out that his wife was allegedly having an affair with another man. The defendant admits that he punched his wife in the face and kicked her on her back multiple times.

The defendant apologized to the court for his action and begged for a second chance to return back to his family and be with his wife. The defendant told the court that he deserve a second chance because this is his first conviction with the court.

Both parties recommended probation.

According to the government, despite the fact that the defendant is a first time offender, the government pointed out that this is not the first time he committed these crimes against his wife.

The government’s attorney said within a one month period, the defendant assaulted his wife multiple times.

In September, the defendant assaulted his wife but that matter was never reported to police.

One week later in September, the defendant assaulted his wife and that is when his wife reported a domestic violence assault to police and the defendant was arrested and charged.

He was later released on bond while his case was pending in court.

Then in October, the defendant was arrested again after he assaulted his wife again. This time, the defendant choked his wife, punched her in the face and accused her of having an affair with another man.

The defendant was re-arrested and he was ordered to stay away from his wife until further order of the court.

Yesterday morning, the Court learned that the victim wanted to be with her husband (defendant) and she had forgiven the defendant for what he did to her.

After the defendant was re-arrested and charged in October of last year, he was later released after he posted bond. Since that time, the defendant has not assaulted his wife again.

The Court told the defendant yesterday morning that it hopes he learned his lesson from the two separate incidents where he assaulted his wife.

The defendant was sentenced to 24 months Probation.

In both cases he was convicted of assaulting his wife and was ordered to serve a period of detention of 90 days at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) and pay a fine of $1,000 for each of the two cases.

The defendant was credited to the 13 days he served while awaiting the outcome of the first case and credited with 12 days he served while awaiting the outcome of the second case. The balance was stayed in both cases until further order of the court. The Court also deferred $850 of the total fine in each case and the defendant was ordered to pay $150 in each case.

The Court also ordered the defendant to attend and completed anger counseling coordinated by the Department of Human and Social Services.

The bottom line according to the Court, is for the defendant to keep the peace at his home all the time and comply with all the conditions of his probation.