A single blow left one man dead and another charged with manslaughter. On Thursday, July 23, 2015, 26-year old Client of Maui attorney Cary Virtue, who has no local address, punched Fabian Martinez of Haiku once in the face, which resulted in Martinez falling and hitting his head on the asphalt roadway between two parked cars in Paia. Martinez, 45, was rushed to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition.
According to witnesses, Client and his friends were sitting on the sidewalk outside of Mana Foods when Martinez walked past. Client recognized Martinez had hit on his girlfriend, so he stood up and asked Martinez what his name was. Martinez apologized and Client suddenly punched Martinez “out of nowhere,” knocking him out and causing him to fall straight back. Police responded at 6:59pm and found Martinez unconscious with obvious head injuries that turned out to be a fractured skull.
Police arrested Client at Kahului Airport the next day for investigation of first-degree assault. When Martinez was found to have no brain activity and died of his injuries at 4:55pm on July 25, the charge was changed to manslaughter.
Client was being held without bail because he was scheduled to leave the state at the time of his arrest and he lacked a local address. On Monday, July 26, during Client’s initial appearance in Wailuku District Court, Deputy Prosecuter John Tam requested that Client continue to be held without bail or that bail be set at $500,000 because of the seriousness of the crime and the risk that Client might flee. “There’s no more clear indication of flight than the fact that he was caught at the airport in the act of leaving,” Tam said.
Defense attorney Cary Virtue pointed out that Client had been planning to leave the island to work for his uncle in Colorado and his flight was scheduled before the assault in Paia. He also argued that Client had no prior convictions, and although Client lacked a local address, he was born and raised on Maui and could live with his brother, who was in the courtroom gallery to show his support that day.
Bail was set at $100,000 by Judge Blaine Kobayashi. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, July 31 at the request of the defense.