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Attorneys for both sides in assault trial are still waiting for the police report

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The government’s case against a 27-year-old from Tafuna, who is one of the two defendants in an assault case that surfaced last year is going to trial after both sides failed to reach a solution.

Tafagamanu Vaili is facing one felony count of assault in the first degree. He appeared in High Court last week for a pretrial conference where his attorney told the court they haven’t received discovery from the government.

However, he said, the defense is unable to reach an agreement with the government and therefore, his client will go to trial.

The prosecutor told the court that the government is still waiting on the arresting officer to submit the report before discovery is handed over to the defense’s side.

The court told the government that it’s their job to communicate with the arresting officer to make sure the report is ready. The court further stated that defense team would not be able to make a good defense if they don’t have the report on time.

Trial is set for August of this year.

The government alleges that on Sept. 23, 2018, Vaili assaulted another man using a metal pipe by striking his head multiple times, which caused severe head injuries to the victim.
Vaili is still in custody, unable to post his $30,000 surety bond.