A Native Hawaiian man who had been found guilty of a hate crime against a white man must now be re-sentenced, a U.S. appeals court decided on Thursday, which could result in more years added to his sentence.
In 2023, Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced by a Honolulu judge to six-and-a-half years after a jury ruled him and another Native Hawaiian man, Levi Aki Jr., guilty.
The jury determined that their actions were racially motivated when they assaulted Christopher Kunzelman in 2014 for attempting to move into their isolated village on Maui, using punches, kicks, and a shovel to beat him.
Alo-Kaonohi appealed the conviction, and prosecutors cross-appealed, challenging the judge’s ruling that the hate crime enhancement could not be applied to the sentence.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel also ruled on Thursday to affirm Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi’s conviction. (Getty Images)
Attorneys for Alo-Kaonohi and Aki said it was Christopher Kunzelman’s entitled and disrespectful attitude that irked them, not his race.
The Hawaii Innocence Project plans to take up the case, according to the group’s co-director, Kenneth Lawson. The organization seeks to argue that an ineffective defense did not present to the jury the history of the word “haole” in Hawaii to show it is not a derogatory term.
“I just don’t believe that it’s a hate crime,” Lawson said.
Lawson also said the defense should have called white, non-Hawaiian residents as witnesses to testify that they lived in the village without any racial issues.
