A state judge has more than doubled the bail of a man accused of attempting to kill his girlfriend with a hammer.
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging Kristopher Kalani with attempted murder. Kalani, 30, has been unable to post $200,000 bail since he turned himself in on March 1.
At the prosecutor’s request, Circuit Judge Colette Garibaldi increased Kalani’s bail Wednesday to $500,000.
The normal penalty for attempted second-degree murder is life in prison with the possibility of release on parole. The indictment, however, puts Kalani on notice that, because he has two prior felony convictions, for the protection of the public the state may ask for an extended sentence of life in prison with no parole if he is found guilty.
Deputy Prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo told Garibaldi that Kalani and the victim, who have been in a relationship for about a year, entered the parking lot of the Waianae Dialysis Center on March 1 about 1:25 a.m. in a sport-utility vehicle. She said Kalani exited the SUV from the driver’s side rear passenger door, opened and closed the driver’s door, walked around to the other side of the vehicle, opened and closed the front passenger door, then left.
Kaeo said bystanders found the girlfriend in the driver’s seat, bloody and injured, and took her to a nearby hospital, where she was found to have multiple fractures to her face. She said police recovered a hammer, covered in blood and hair, from the SUV.
Police say there is a known illegal game room at the same Farrington Highway address as the dialysis center that has a security camera pointed at the parking lot.
They said a bystander took Kalani’s girlfriend to Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center emergency room, where she was found to be in critical condition. When a police officer asked the girlfriend during her transfer to The Queen’s Medical Center who did this, she told the officer and ambulance crew, “My boyfriend. My boyfriend.”
Kalani turned himself in at the Honolulu Police Department’s Kapolei Station. Police say Kalani told them he and his girlfriend got into an argument and that he did something “bad.” He said, “I assaulted her.”
His prior convictions are for first-degree assault, in which the victim died, and assaulting a law enforcement officer.
Kalani had been charged with manslaughter but pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the Oct. 9, 2006 death of 18-year-old Alexander Saballa in a deal with the prosecutor. He admitted punching Saballa, and that Saballa fell to the ground and hit his head on the curb. A witness told police she saw Kalani hit Saballa on the head with a metal object.
In the other case, police said Kalani approached from behind an officer responding to a report of a fight and punched the officer in the back of the head. They said Kalani continued punching the officer, including in the face.
The prosecutor told the Hawaii Paroling Authority that Kalani has poor impulse control and anger management issues and was not suitable for early release.