LIHUE — After about six hours of deliberation a jury found a Hanamaulu man not guilty of first-degree assault. The verdict was announced yesterday afternoon Durgh Kane, 53, was accused of using a bar glass called a “bucket” to stab
LIHUE — After about six hours of deliberation a jury found a Hanamaulu man not guilty of first-degree assault.
The verdict was announced yesterday afternoon
Durgh Kane, 53, was accused of using a bar glass called a “bucket” to stab and cut open the face of another man at Nawiliwili Tavern in the early morning hours of May 26, 2002.
The trial took place in the Fifth Circuit Court, with Judge Calvin Murashige presiding. Kane was represented by attorney Mark Zenger with co-counsel Maunaloa Trask, a third-year law student. Chief prosecuting attorney Michael Soong and deputy prosecuting attorney Craig De Costa represented the state. The state was to prove that Kane’s actions were intentional and that he knowingly caused serious bodily injury and permanent disfigurement.
Jason Geffert, the victim, required 151 stitches to his face resulting from the assault and has visible scars across his face.
Witnesses for the state testified seeing and/or hearing him ask Kane to keep his drink inside the bar upon seeing Kane walk toward the exit. Geffert testified that he told Kane that to avoid getting a citation from police after seeing a police vehicle parked in the area. He also testified that Kane made disparaging remarks about the police department.
Kane testified that someone grabbed him from behind as he was at the doorway, looking for the person who came with him to the bar. When he turned around, Kane said the person was grabbing and squeezing his groin area, so he put him in a headlock and hit him in the head with the glass. After the assault, Kane testified that he went to the Kauai Police Department to report that someone started a fight with him. He said that he had no idea who it was that he was hitting, just that he was trying to keep the person from attacking him.
“It amazes me that it did happen that way, that you could be scarred and mangled that way and then for them to be found not guilty, it’s mind-boggling,” Geffert said in a telephone interview with The Garden Island following the announcement of the verdict.
“I think the jury listened carefully to all the evidence and they believed that the alleged victim initiated the physical contact, that Durgh reacted reasonably to that, and the victim escalated the confrontation to a serious level when he, without good cause, grabbed and squeezed Durgh’s groin area,” Zenger said of the decision in a telephone interview. “Durgh reacted as any man would by doing whatever it took to get the all victims to release the grip from his groin area as swiftly as possible.”
“There wasn’t enough evidence that could prove that it wasn’t self defense,” one juror said following the trial. “The evidence provided wasn’t enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was definitely guilty.”
Neither De Costa nor Soong were immediately available to comment Thursday.
Had Kane been convicted he would have faced a maximum 10-year term of imprisonment.
