Kaua’i County prosecutors have resurrected a charge of attempted murder against Mark Vargas, 47, who allegedly stabbed another man Nov. 3 after an argument at Kekaha low-income housing.
Initially, Vargas was arraigned on an attempted murder charge. But District Court Judge Trudy Senda later reduced the charge to assault in the second degree.
Senda ruled there wasn’t probable cause to support an attempted murder charge.
At the time, prosecutors said if the 59-year-old victim died, the charge could be amended upward to murder.
The victim didn’t die, but on Tuesday, prosecutors utilizing an indictment from a grand jury once again charged Vargas with attempted murder in the second degree.
Vargas, a Kekaha resident who has only one arm and one leg, has been in Kaua’i Community Correctional Center for the past 30 days in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Prosecuting Attorney Mike Soong said his office’s action in the case isn’t all that unique.
“There are a number of reasons we might do this. Sometimes we don’t have all the evidence at the time of the preliminary hearing. Or the evidence changes. In this case, we actually had to present a whole case to the grand jury,” which then indicted Vargas, Soong said.
He said his staff has probably refiled no more than 10 cases in his five years in office.
“Even if the judge ruled no probable cause, we could either refile it right back in District Court or go to the grand jury. We chose the grand jury,” said chief deputy prosecutor Craig De Costa, who represented the county in court on the matter Tuesday.
Vargas’ attorney, Erick T. Moon, disagreed with the higher charge of attempted murder.
Moon said the victim) “had to attack my client,” who “can’t move. The guy had to walk onto his (Vargas’) knife.”
Moon said Vargas’ victim had been bullying his client many times before the stabbing.
The victim was taken to Queens Hospital in Honolulu for medical treatment after the attack and is recovering.
Stae law allows medical personnel not to comment on a victim’s condition if they so choose.
Moon added that reports that Vargas had an attempted murder charge pending in California were erroneous. He said Vargas was on probation after an assault conviction in California, where he had lived previously.
Senda couldn’t be reached for comment.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
