A University of Hawaii football player was fined and sentenced to community service Wednesday, while a former teammate was found not guilty, both in connection with a brawl over a spilled beer at a Waikiki nightclub in August.
Darius Bright pleaded no contest to third-degree assault and received a sentence of 40 hours of community service and a $200 fine.
Bright, a senior, apologized in court and said he hopes to stay out of trouble, keep going to school and continue playing football.
District Judge Blake Okimoto granted him a chance to keep the arrest and conviction off his record if he stays out of trouble for six months.
The fight on Aug. 28 involved Army Pfc. Joshua Forsythe and UH linebacker Aaron Brown at the Zanzabar Nightclub. Both accused the other of throwing the first punch.
Brown, 23, said the fight started after he walked onto a crowded dance floor and began dancing. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Forsythe accusing him of spilling his beer.
Forsythe told Brown to buy him another one and pushed him, Brown said. Brown said he pushed back, but that Forsythe threw the first punch. The men ended up struggling on the ground, where Forsythe, who is 6 feet 5 and 230 pounds, was punching Brown’s head.
Brown, who is 6 feet 1, said he felt threatened because other people were also punching him and that he punched Forsythe so he could get away and deal with the other people.
Forsythe said the fight started when Brown approached him for no reason, knocked a beer out of his hand and punched him. Forsythe said Bright apparently was trying to break up the fight and that he was only punched once.
Forsythe said he did not want to testify against the men or have the case prosecuted, saying, "I have better things to do."
Deputy Prosecutor Clinton Piper said despite Forsythe’s unwillingness to prosecute, the prosecutor’s office would vigorously pursue such a case, especially if it is a violent offense.
Contrary to his testimony, Forsythe had signed a police statement saying that Brown and Bright punched him.
Brown and Bright were suspended for the season’s opening game after their arrests.
The judge acquitted Brown.
"I’m happy," Brown said after his acquittal. "It’s a hard lesson to learn. I’ve learned from it. You just got to move on and stay out of those type of situations where anything bad can happen."
Paul Cunney, Brown’s attorney, said, "He (Forsythe) was actually, in our opinion, the aggressor."
Attorney Dean Hoe said Bright admits to hitting Forsythe, but only after the fight broke up.
He said the punch came after Bright lost his temper when Forsythe accused him of assault.
Brown, who graduated from UH earlier this month, planned to return to his Washington state home today and travel in early January to Los Angeles, where he will train for the NFL Scouting Combine.
