Defendant felt threatened in H-1 melee that injured 3 others, attorney says

Jurors heard vastly different versions Friday of who’s to blame for a road rage brawl two years ago that left three men sliced, bitten and bleeding on the side of the H-1 freeway.

Defendant Mark Char, who was 58 at the time, drove himself and his wife home after the attack on Aug. 1, 2016, but later suffered from blood poisoning from his own bruises, cuts and scrapes that requires him to use a wheelchair, according to his defense attorney, Keith Shigetomi.

Char was wheeled into Circuit Court on Friday morning to hear opening statements in his trial for second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault and third-degree assault. At times during Friday’s hearing, Char stood from his wheelchair to pour himself cups of water.

Char is on trial for second-degree attempted murder for cutting driver Jesther Marlang, then 22, with “a triangular spade knife held similar to brass knuckles,” Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Dowd told jurors.

Not only did Char bite “two of Jesther’s fingers so violently that he gets blood on his face,” but Char also stabbed Marlang three times to the abdomen and two to his side, Dowd said.

The second-degree assault charge stems from injuries to Marlang’s passenger, Deion Anunciacion, who was 21 at the time. Anunciacion suffered a cut to his left forearm that went through skin, fat, tendons and muscles and all the way to the bone, according to testimony from Dr. Aimee Perreira, who operated on him.

The third-degree assault charge is the result of cuts to two fingers belonging to good Samaritan Jene Winn, then 58, who pulled over his BMW to help and quickly found himself in “the dog pile” of fighting bodies by the side of the freeway, Dowd said.

Char “stabs Deion in the left forearm and also gives Deion another slice or two on the other forearm,” Dowd said. “Jene reaches in, and he feels intense pain to one of his hands and pulls it out and sees his fingers are bleeding. … He had no idea a weapon was involved.”

Char is also awaiting trial in three additional cases all scheduled for July: first-degree negligent injury; first-degree terroristic threatening and weapons charges; and second-degree assault and criminal property damage.

In his opening statement Friday, Dowd said Marlang and Anunciacion had left Powerhouse Gym Aiea around 3 p.m.

Marlang was driving a white Nissan Sentra on the westbound H-1 freeway just past the Waikele Premium Outlets toward Ewa Beach where Char, according to Marlang, “cuts him off and brake-checks him,” Dowd said.

Just as Marlang and Anunciacion notice “a bunch of anti-tailgating bumper stickers” on the back of the Camaro, Char “brake-checks” Marlang a second time.

Marlang responded by driving ahead to brake-check Char, who then did the same thing, according to Dowd.

Marlang then pulled over and leaned against a guardrail “because he wants to talk to the defendant,” Dowd said.

Char not only pulled over, but also backed into the Nissan, breaking the front license plate cover, Dowd said. Char then got out with two cans of pepper spray and tried spraying Marlang, according to both Dowd and Shigetomi.

“The two of them start to exchange punches, or at least what Jesther thinks is punches,” Dowd said.

After Winn got stabbed, Dowd said, the men began separating, and everyone “sees that the defendant is holding this — essentially, this — shank that’s held by brass knuckles,” Dowd said.

Off-duty military police officer Kaohu Detwiler was driving in the opposite direction and thought he was seeing the aftermath of an accident, Dowd said.

Instead, Dowd said, Detwiler “sees the defendant withdraw his fist from Jesther’s abdomen area, and that’s when he first sees that shank.”

Driver Ala Montera took pictures in which “you clearly see the shank knife in the defendant’s hand,” Dowd said.

Detwiler told Char to remain at the scene, but Char and his wife instead drove home, Dowd said.

Police tracked Char to his home on Halolani Street in Ewa Beach and found his Camaro — which had no bumper stickers; a backpack containing magnetic “anti-tailgate bumper stickers”; two cans of pepper spray — but no knife, Dowd said.

“The evidence will not show that the defendant was motivated by fear or concern for personal safety, but anger,” Dowd said.

Shigetomi, Char’s attorney, instead told jurors that Char feared for his safety and thought he was about to be stabbed during the melee.

It began when Char picked up his wife in his brand-new “dream car” and later “saw a white car speeding up from behind him … right on his tail,” Shigetomi said.

“To raise the arrogance level, Marlang purposely slammed on his brakes and came to a complete stop on the H-1 freeway in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday,” Shigetomi said.

When Marlang got out of the Nissan, “it looked like the people in the white car wanted to talk to Mark. So he also pulled over,” Shigetomi said. “For some reason his car kept rolling, rolling backwards. … Mark didn’t intentionally reverse his brand-new Camaro into the white car.”

Marlang only spoke in profanities, and Char believed he was about to be attacked, according to Shigetomi.

“Mark pulled out a can of pepper spray to keep Marlang from attacking him,” Shigetomi said.

Anunciacion then got out of the Nissan, and “it was two against one,” Shigetomi said, “young vs. old. And — fair or not — Marlang called Anunciacion and said, ‘Get the knife.’”

At one point, Shigetomi said, Marlang caught Char “and threw a roundhouse right toward Mark’s head. Pop, right on the side of the head. Mark was stunned.”

Marlang held Char’s shirt so tightly that it both ripped and prevented Char from escaping, Shigetomi said.

That’s when Marlang “unleashed another flurry of punches, just swinging away. Boom!” Shigetomi said. “Knocked Mark down to the ground on the side of the H-1 freeway. This was definitely a fight. Mark struggled with Marlang to keep from getting hurt even more. He blocked. He grabbed. He did whatever he could. When Marlang got his hands up around Mark’s face and started clawing at it, Mark bit on that finger to stop it.”

As Marlang called out, “Stick him, stick him,” according to Shigetomi, Char unsheathed “a small knife attached to a chain around his neck.”

Char “wildly and blindly just swung that knife at whatever, whomever,” Shigetomi said. “When they stopped, Mark stopped. … Mark did not intend to kill or assault anyone. He was put in a position where he had no choice but to protect himself, and that is what he did and that is all he did.”