Man found guilty
in ’03 beating

Johnston Kapua faces 10 years for
the attack on a California man

A jury found a 31-year-old man guilty of first-degree assault yesterday for what prosecutors described as a savage beating of a California visitor nearly two years ago.

Johnston Kapua faces a maximum 10-year prison term when he is sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto on April 26.

Kapua was charged with second-degree attempted murder, which carries a mandatory life prison term with the possibility for parole, for stomping on Ivan Kaloyanov's head outside a Kapiolani Boulevard nightclub near the Hawai'i Convention Center in May 2003.

Kaloyanov was sent to the hospital unconscious and with a fractured skull.

Kaloyanov, 21, emerged from a coma several days later but continues to suffer permanent injuries, including loss of memory and inability to concentrate.

Neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney was fully pleased with the verdict.

"We wanted attempted murder in the second degree because there is no doubt that if Mr. Kaloyanov had died it, would have been a murder case," said Barry Kemp, deputy city prosecutor.

However, Kemp said the verdict is consistent with those of two other men who have been convicted for participating in the beating.

Solomon Kahalewai was convicted of second-degree assault and sentenced to five years of probation with 52 consecutive weekends in jail. Christopher Hicks was convicted of first-degree assault, but because he was 20 years old at the time of his sentencing, qualifying him as a youthful offender, he was sentenced to five years in prison instead of the maximum 10 years.

Kapua's attorney, Keith Shigetomi, said he is pleased the jury did not find his client guilty of attempted murder.

"We asked the jury to find him guilty of assault, and they did that," Shigetomi said. "I guess we were successful, although we did suggest that it be a lower degree of assault."

The attack on Kaloyanov started when Kapua confronted and head-butted the visitor outside Blue Tropix nightclub for allegedly trying to "pick up" the girlfriend of Kapua's nephew.

A friend said he and Kaloyanov fled but were caught by Kapua, Hicks and Kahalewai, who were circling the area in a vehicle. The friend escaped but later returned to find Kaloyanov lying unconscious on the ground in a large pool of blood.