lfujimoto@mauinews.com
WAILUKU Acknowledging reports that a Napili man had improved his life “tremendously,” a judge imposed an 18-month jail term instead of a longer prison sentence for a defendant who robbed one man and threatened two others in a Honokowai parking lot.
“I think you’ve seen what it means to be a real man wake up sober, pick up your lunch pail and go to work,” 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen said in sentencing Duke Waring on April 6 “But mostly earn some pride.
“There’s no pride in pulling a gun on an unarmed man. There’s no pride in picking on someone half your size. That’s just being a bully.”
lfujimoto@mauinews.com
Graduates and 2nd Circuit Court judges pose for a photo after the 72nd graduation ceremony for the Maui Drug Court program, which is in its 20th year. From right are 2nd Circuit Chief Judge Richard Bissen, who serves as Drug Court judge, retired 2nd Circuit Chief Judge Joseph Cardoza, 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo, Joseph Kaikala, Robert Kaikala, Desiree Collier, 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill, Michael Woods, Starr Begley and Kianu Pelekai-Peneku. The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photos
WAILUKU When the Maui Drug Court started 20 years ago, it wasn’t met with the response that organizers had been hoping for the program that offered treatment as an alternative to incarceration for some criminal defendants.