State v. Malufau

KLEIN, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Siaosi Malufau appeals from his conviction, after a jury trial, of assault in the first degree under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 707-710(1) (Supp. 1992). 1 Malufau filed this timely appeal after the circuit, court denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, or in the alternative for a new trial, on January 4, 1994. Based on the following, we vacate and remand.

I

Rufus Mountford, Ramona Ai, and another woman named “Tammy” were seated at a booth in Leon’s Arctic Bar on June 20, 1990, when Malufau approached and asked Ramona to dance with him. Ramona agreed…