Native Hawaiian man could face longer prison sentence after conviction for hate crime against white man

An indigenous Hawaiian man who was found guilty of a crime of hatred against a white man must be re -entertained, an American court of appeal ruled Thursday, potentially leading to additional years in prison.

Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced by an Honolulu judge in 2023 to six and a half after a jury found him as well as another native Hawaiian man, Levi Aki Jr., guilty.

The jury found that the pair was motivated by the race when they hit, kicked and used a shovel to beat Christopher Kunzelman in 2014 for trying to settle in their isolated village in Maui.

Alo-Kaonohi appealed to the conviction and the prosecutors were interrupted, challenging the decision of the judge according to which the improvement of the crime of hatred could not be applied to the penalty.

Hawaii Men was sentenced to a racial motivation attack against the white man

An indigenous Hawaiian man who has been found guilty of a crime of hatred against a white man must be re -entertained, ruled an American court of appeal. (AP)

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal Panel also tried Thursday to assert the condemnation of al-Kaonohi.

We did not know exactly how long Aloonoi could be required to spend behind bars.

Aki’s appeal, as well as the appeal crossed by Aki’s sentence of approximately four years, were voluntarily rejected, according to judicial files.

Kunzelman’s wife Lori Kunzelman, the Associated Press told that the prosecutors had expressed a longer sentence on Thursday.

The Kunzelmans bought a dilapidated house by the sea because they wanted to leave Arizona after the diagnosis of sclerosis in Lori Kunzelman plates.

“We had a vacation on Maui year after year-loved it, loved Maui,” she said, noting that they considered the house as an affordable opportunity that her husband could resolve.

Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced by an Honolulu judge in 2023 to six and a half after a jury recognized him and another guilty man. (Getty Images)

She said that the blows of her husband had destroyed her marriage, explaining that her husband had undergone brain damage which led them to divorce.

Christopher Kunzelman was traveling to Europe and unavailable to deal with the decision.

The pair still has the property but they don’t know what to do with it, said Lori Kunzelman.

“Families there will not allow anyone to walk on this property,” she said. “There is so much animosity.”

The use of the word “haol”, a Hawaiian word with meanings that include foreigners and whites, was at the heart of the case. Dennis Kunzelman testified that the men called him “haol” in a derogatory way.

2 hi native hi men to condemn for a crime of hatred after having brutally beaten a white man

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal Panel also decided on Thursday to assert the conviction of Kaulana Aloonohi. (Getty Images)

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The lawyers of al-Kaonohi and Aki said that it was the attitude entitled and disrespectful of Christopher Kunzelman who thwarted them, not in his race.

The Hawaii Innocence project plans to take over the case, according to the group co -director Kenneth Lawson. The organization seeks to assert that an ineffective defense did not present to the jury the history of the word “haol” in Hawaii to show that it is not a derogatory term.

“I just don’t think it’s a hatred crime,” said Lawson.

Lawson also said that the defense should have called white and not Hawaiian residents as witnesses to testify that they lived in the village without any racial problems.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.