Ads by Google Ads by Google

Court Report

MAN ACCUSED IN SON’S DEATH DENIES CHARGES

A firefighter facing charges of manslaughter and homicide by vehicle in connection with the death of his one year old son two years ago has denied the charges against him.

Iuliano Tavale of Leone, a fireman with the local Fire Bureau under the Department of Public Safety was arraigned in High Court yesterday morning. Tavale was scheduled to have his preliminary examination on Monday before District Court Judge John Ward, but he waived his right to a PX.

Tavale entered his not guilty plea before Chief Justice Michael Kruse. A Manslaughter count is a class C felony that carries a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. A Homicide by Vehicle count is punishable by up to five years in jail, a fine up to $5,000 or both.

According to the government’s case, this incident came to light when CID Captain Lavata’i Ta’ase Sagapolutele received a written report from LBJ Emergency Room’s Dr. James Marrone, regarding a suspected case of child abuse.

According to the government’s case, Tavale took his son to the hospital and told Dr. Marrone that he and his son were in a pickup truck when his son fell and hit his head on the dashboard and passed out.The one year old was placed on life support and died the next day.

According to court documents, the autopsy performed on the victim by Dr. Ivy Clemente claimed the immediate cause of death was determined to be an Acute Subdural Hemtoma with diffuse cerebral edema and basal skull fracture. The underlying cause of the hematoma was due to “blunt force injury” to the head said the report.

Court documents say that Tavale admitted to police that his son was in the passenger seat without a child restraint seat, and that he accidentally hit the brakes and the car swerved to the side of the road causing his son to fall, hitting the back of his head on the dashboard, and that his son was thrown towards the passenger side hitting his forehead on the door.

Tavale told police that he then stopped the car and tried to resuscitate his son, but the child was unconscious and not moving. When the investigating officer asked the defendant about the bruises on the victim’s body, the defendant admitted that he accidentally slapped his son hard several times prior to the incident.

Tavale apologized to police for his carelessness towards performing his parental duties and he should have known better and provided his son with some kind of restraint in the vehicle.

He is out on bail of $15,000. His pre-trial conference is scheduled on June 22, 2012.

TULUA’AI FA’AMAUSILI  PX HEARING SET FOR JUNE 1, 2012

Preliminary Examination for Tuilua’ai Fa’amausili, who is accused of passing bad checks and stealing is now scheduled for June 1, 2012. This hearing is for District Court Judge John Ward to determine whether the government has sufficient evidence to have this matter proceed to the High Court.

Fa’amausili, who has been in custody since Friday on bail of $15,000 is represented by Fiti Sunia.

According to the government’s case on December 7, 2011 Nie Ming, owner of K& K Corporation filed a formal complaint with the CID against FTC Corporation owned by the defendant Tuilua’ai Fa’amausili and Office of Motor Vehicle (OMV) Manager Mau Fa’amausili for writing three checks to the victim’s company on three separate occasions, but the account had insufficient funds to cover the checks.

Tuilua’ai is charged with three counts of passing bad checks and three counts of stealing. Each count of passing bad checks is a class D felony which is punishable with up to five years in jail, a fine of $5,000  a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of the said crime up to a maximum of $20,000 — or both fine and imprisonment.

Each stealing charge is a class C felony punishable for up to seven years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of the said crime up to a maximum of $20,000, or both the fine and imprisonment.

Court documents say that on February 14, 2012 a written notice was mailed to the defendant by certified mail with receipt as to the non-payment of the bad checks.