Big Island man to be sentenced for manslaughter
Associated Press
HILO, Hawaii (AP) — A Big Island man convicted of manslaughter is to be sentenced March 9.
A jury convicted 37-year-old Robert Eain Grant earlier this week for the 2008 death of 47-year-old Daniel Martina.
Two witnesses testified Grant and Martina got into a confrontation when Grant offered beers to them but not to Martina in the parking lot of the Pahoa Community Center.
Grant testified he kicked Martina in the chest when Martina swore at him and threw three punches.
The force of the kick knocked Martina to the ground, and he hit his head on the asphalt.
Martina died six days later at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu of a severe brain injury caused by a skull fracture.
Grant’s defense at trial was that the kick was a justified use of force.