LIHUE — After serving nearly 10 years in prison, a Kapaa man charged with sexual assault and kidnapping could be released in time for the holidays. James Mundon, 60, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe Tuesday and pleaded
LIHUE — After serving nearly 10 years in prison, a Kapaa man charged with sexual assault and kidnapping could be released in time for the holidays.
James Mundon, 60, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe Tuesday and pleaded guilty to kidnapping, a class B felony, from charges dating back to 2004, after accepting a plea deal from the state. The state dismissed the first count of sexual assault in the first degree.
“I understand the amount of time we’ve been spending with this trial,” Mundon told the court. “I know it’s very costly. I really don’t want to waste your time, your honor, and the taxpayers’ money.”
Mundon, representing himself, expressed concern about the original plea agreement offered by the state and said he did “not like the plea” and was considering a one-week continuance to review it with his stand-in counsel, Stuart Fujioka.
His main concern was the date of his sentencing and when he would be released from custody after he had accepted the plea deal.
“I wanted to go see the doctor over here and spend Christmas with my family,” he told the court. “I did 10 years already … I really want to go home.”
Watanabe told him his concern was something he’d have to take up with the Department of Public Safety Hawaii Paroling Authority.
After a short recess and a conversation between the judge, the parties and Mundon, the plea was changed and the defendant signed it.
His sentencing is scheduled before Judge Watanabe on Dec. 16.
The Kapaa man had been awaiting his third jury trial scheduled for Jan. 19 on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. His first two trials had been appealed and overturned by the Hawaii Supreme Court for different reasons.
In total, the indictment against Mundon had 28 counts of sexual assault, kidnapping, terroristic threatening and assault charges.
He has gone to trial twice, was found guilty twice and sentenced to 40 years in prison twice. The first trial was in 2006 and the second was in 2010. He was accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Canadian woman in 2004 while holding a knife to her throat on Kauai.
During the first trial, Mundon was acquitted of the individual acts of third degree sexual assault but convicted of attempted sexual assault in thefirst degree. The court believed the state had not given Mundon proper access to his discovery during the trial. The ruling wasoverturned.
In the second trial, the court ruled that acquitted acts could not be used against him in the retrial when individualacts were used as evidence against him. The ruling was again overturned.
Former County Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho said after that trial she would try to seek a prison term that would put Mundon away for life.
Watanabe then sentenced him to two consecutive terms of 20 years imprisonment. That sentence was overturned in 2012 by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Mundon was originally arrested on Feb. 5, 2004.
He was accused of attempting to rape a victim after she fell asleep in his car near a hostel in Kapaa, according to court documents.
This wasn’t Mundon’s first sexual assault case. In 1986, Mundon was found not guilty of rape and sexual assault charges. He was charged with rape, sodomy, kidnapping, and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
