Man guilty of
beating undercover
cop, tipster

Darwin Ramirez, 18, faces
life in prison without parole

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

An 18-year-old Wahiawa man faces life without the possibility of parole in the September 1998 beating of an undercover officer and a confidential informant in a botched sting over stolen computers.

A Circuit Court jury yesterday found Darwin Ramirez guilty of first-degree attempted murder, a charge involving more than one victim in the same or separate incident.

His attorney, Jonathan Burge, said Ramirez was disappointed with the verdict and plans to appeal.

Co-defendant Mark Calicdan, 17, also charged with first-degree attempted murder, was found guilty of the lesser offenses of second-degree assault, punishable by five years in prison, and first-degree attempted assault, which carries a 10-year term.

Both were juveniles at the time of the attack but were tried as adults.

Two other juveniles also waived by Family Court, Kalani Agosto and Anastacio Martinez, reached plea agreements with the state and await sentencing. A 15-year-old was tried in Family Court.

Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Kim said the verdicts were "just" given the evidence, which showed that the undercover officer and the confidential informant were drawn into a "pretty cold, predatory setup."

Kim had argued that Ramirez was the ringleader who planned the attack with baseball bats and set out to "rip off" the informant. The undercover officer and the informant followed the juveniles into an alley intending to purchase stolen computers but were both knocked unconscious and robbed of $150.

Burge had argued that Ramirez only planned to scare the confidential informant because the informant had been harassing Ramirez for a month about wanting to "rub oil on his body" and give him massages.

But one of the other juveniles with Ramirez attacked the informant with a baseball bat, and the police officer rushed Ramirez, slamming him against a wall and knocking him to the ground, he said.

When the officer went after him a second time, Ramirez struck him only once with a bat, Burge said. But the bat broke and the officer was knocked unconscious.

Calicdan allegedly was asked to go along for support because Ramirez suspected he was being set up, said his court-appointed attorney, Neal Kugiya. "He didn't have the intent or knowledge of what was going on."

Kugiya said Calicdan was pleased that the jury convicted him of lesser offenses. The attorney said he will ask that Calicdan be sentenced as a youthful offender, under which he could face a maximum five years for the first-degree attempted assault and four years for the second-degree assault.

Kim said he will ask that Calicdan receive at least 10 years for first-degree attempted assault. Kim said he may also ask for consecutive terms or may seek an extended term since Calicdan was convicted of two felonies.

Ramirez and Calicdan will be sentenced Nov. 10 before Judge Marie Milks.