IOANE GALI

A man accused of using the handle of a machete 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.

(Samoa News usually does not publish a defendant’s name in domestic cases to protect the victim; however, there are times the defendant is identified by name in a story, upon sentencing for a serious felony crime. And this is the case for this story.)

The defendant, Ioane Gali 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 and accepted by the court, the government amended the initial countdown 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 machete to continue the assault.

Gali was in High Court last Friday for sentencing where he apologized for his crime and sought leniency in sentencing. He told the court that he is remorseful of what he did and his action was wrong. However, the defendant didn’t offer an apology to his wife.

Public Defender Douglas Fiaui told the court that his client is truly remorseful for his action and Gali is prepared to accept whatever the decision made by the court. Fiaui echoed the Probation Office’s recommendation for the defendant to be sentence to probation.

Assistant attorney general Christy Dunn supported a probative sentence and for the defendant to attend and complete anger management counseling.

Chief Justice Michael Kruse said that while the defendant used the machete’s handle to assault the victim, Gali’s action still resulted in serious inquiries to his wife.

Kruse 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 has recently moved to withdraw the divorce motion.

The CJ then announced sentencing of 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine, but both were suspended under several conditions, including that Gali serves 20 months as part of his 5-year probation as well as pay $150 fine, while the remaining balance of the $5,000 is 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, where she is residing.

DANIEL TAUFUA

A 30-year old man, accused of breaking into several local businesses, has reached a plea agreement with the government and the agreement was announced during a change of plea hearing last Thursday in High Court.

Under the plea agreement, Daniel Taufua pled guilty to three felony counts of stealing. And for the guilty plea, the defendant admitted to breaking into three local businesses between December 2015 and February this year and during the break-ins he stole more than $3,000 in cash.

Taufua was initially charged in two separate cases. In the first one, he was charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and three counts of stealing — all felonies. For the second case, he faced six felonies — including three counts of stealing, one count of robbery, one count of first degree burglary and one count of assisting another person to commit stealing.

Under the plea agreement, which has since been accepted by the court, the defendant pled guilty to three counts of felony stealing and the rest of the charges from both cases are dismissed.

For the guilty plea, the defendant admitted that he stole $120 from a laundromat in Tafuna sometime on Feb. 1, 2017, which is also the same date that he broke into a company, also in Tafuna, and took off with $3,000. On a later date, he broke into a store — located in Nu’uuli — and stole about $160 in cash.

Court information states that Taufua has two co-defendants — Aki Lee Jungblut and Nassan Tupuola, and the co-defendants’ cases are pending in High Court.

As part of the plea agreement, Taufua along with his co-defendants are to pay restitution back to the affected businesses.

Stealing is a class C felony punishable by not more than 7 years’ imprisonment, or a $5,000 fine, or both. Taufua remains in custody, and is to be sentenced July 6th this year.