LIHU‘E — “Patrick lied about Carrie,” eye-witness Thomas Downey said from the stand. The only witness for the defense and the final one in the attempted murder case in 5th Circuit Court, Downey described the evening in which Carrie Robson
LIHU‘E — “Patrick lied about Carrie,” eye-witness Thomas Downey
said from the stand. The only witness for the defense and the final
one in the attempted murder case in 5th Circuit Court, Downey
described the evening in which Carrie Robson allegedly attacked
49-year-old Patrick Craig with a machete and then struck the man
with her truck.
LIHU‘E — “Patrick lied about Carrie,” eye-witness Thomas Downey said from the stand.
The only witness for the defense and the final one in the attempted murder case in 5th Circuit Court, Downey described the evening in which Carrie Robson allegedly attacked 49-year-old Patrick Craig with a machete and then struck the man with her truck.
In earlier testimony on Wednesday, Craig said when her truck rammed his back she broke his left wrist, which was propped up against a phone booth while he called 911.
Downey said she had done neither.
During cross examination, Prosecutor Melinda Mendes asked Downey if he was mad at Craig, whom he had know for three years as a fellow “pavilionaire.” The men often hang out at the Hanalei Pavilion, where Robson and Craig had a run-in on the night of Dec. 19.
“I was mad at him for stealing Carrie’s freedom,” Downey responded.
Testimony Wednesday in Judge Randal Valenciano’s courtroom included Downey, Craig and a Kaua‘i police sergeant, who reviewed photos of Craig at Wilcox Memorial Hospital following the incident. Robson chose not to testify.
She faces charges of second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault and two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening — the first count stemming from the machete, the second from the truck.
Sgt. Sandy Wakumoto, one of the first witnesses to testify on Wednesday morning, looked at images of Craig’s back, sides and one scraped shin from the incident. Although it was barely discernible in the photo, Wakumoto testified that Craig’s back was red.
Following his testimony, Craig took the stand for several hours. A former helicopter mechanic for the U.S. Army, Craig said he’s lived on the island for about 10 years and has held 25 to 30 jobs in that time. He also has no permanent residence.
On Dec. 19, he said, he had drank about 18 beers since 8 a.m. that day, smoked the equivalent of half a marijuana joint and drank a tea made with “magic mushrooms” as Mendes put it. Craig noted that the hallucinogenic mushrooms never took effect.
That night, he testified, Robson came to a celebration he and other pavilionaires held just before Christmas. There, they ate pupus, drank beer and smoked pot. When Robson arrived, he asked her for a hug, which she gave.
“I said ‘Is that it?’ She said, ‘Yeah, that’s it,’” Craig recalled for Mendes.
She asked him for beer and weed, he said, but he refused.
“She never contributes, she just comes around and asks people for things,” Craig said. “She’s a mooch.”
When Public Defender Christian Enright asked more about why he refused, Craig said Robson “doesn’t put out.” He later added that he meant, she doesn’t kiss him or join him for dinner or want to hang out.
“If Carrie had just put out more, would none of this have ever happened?” Enright asked.
“Whose to say?” Craig said.
About a half hour later that night, Craig said Robson returned with a machete and used it in an aggressive dance. At some point, she knocked down his coffee pot. When he told her to stop, she proceeded to strike a picnic table in the pavilion three times.
“I charged her and took the machete away from her,” Craig said. “She grazed my arm with the machete … (but) it didn’t cut me.
“I was scared. I was afraid someone was … going to get hurt there.”
After grabbing the machete, he walked to a nearby phone booth and called 911 five times. Meanwhile Robson attempted to get her machete back then got into her truck and drove it into his back, Craig contended. He said after it hit him — at that point he heard the bones in his wrist snap — Robson backed up 25 to 30 feet and drove at him two more times before leaving the area. Craig testified that he barrel-rolled out of the way each time, causing the scrape on his leg.
Enright questioned Craig about his injuries, and asked the man if he broke any other bones, hit his head on the phone booth, or was otherwise hurt in the incident. He said no.
“And you’re telling us she drove her pickup into you … and no other part of your body was broken?” Enright asked.
“Correct,” Craig replied.
In earlier testimony, an officer said he found fresh tire marks on Craig’s belonging in the parking lot next to the pavilion. Photographs of clothing and other items showed the same.
Once the state rested, Enright called Downey to the stand. Like Craig, 53-year-old Downey is a man without a permanent residence.
Much of his testimony contradicted Craig’s. He said that when Robson came to the pavilion, she danced with Craig, but did eventually pull out a machete.
He first noticed it when he heard her tapping the large blade against a picnic table and then knocked down Craig’s coffee pot. Craig then took the machete from her, said he would call the police and walked to the phone booth. Robson later followed.
Downey said he didn’t want to get involved, but eventually popped out his head to see what was going on. Robson then grabbed Craig’s backpack, Downey said, and threw it in her truck. He followed her and took it out.
They repeated this action once more, and then she drove off when she heard sirens, Downey testified. When he pulled the pack out the last time, some of its contents spilled to the ground.
Enright asked if Robson ever hit Craig with her truck.
“No, I never (saw) that,” Downey replied.
The trial resumes on Friday morning when the jury will hear closing arguments and go into deliberation.
• Jessica Musicar, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or by e-mailing jmusicar@ thegardenisland.com.
