Iovani Alatini, accused of causing a car crash that cost his wife her left arm, walked out of court a free man yesterday after jurors in his assault trial declared they could not reach a verdict.

Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario declared a mistrial and the prosecutor, Jeen Kwak, said she will put Alatini on trial again.

The alleged victim, Lise Solomua-Alatini, testified as a defense witness during the trial, saying the accident was her fault.

Kwak said such changes of testimony by victims "are not uncommon" in domestic violence cases.

"I've been doing domestic violence cases for 10 years and about 50 percent of (victims) do recant," Kwak said.

But defense attorney Marcus Landsberg said Alatini did not assault his wife and has never abused her.

He called the accident that cost Solomua-Alatini most of her left arm a tragedy and said the prosecutor's office should use its resources to pursue "real cases" of domestic violence.

"The real victims of domestic violence will have their cases go uninvestigated and unprosecuted because the prosecution is concentrating its resources on a case like this," Landsberg said.

"No one can win this case. Everyone can lose."

Kwak said the state "has every intention of bringing this case back to trial."

"We cannot stop pursuing perpetrators of domestic violence," she said. "It has to stop."

Alatini kicked the steering wheel while arguing with his wife as she drove 'ewa-bound on H-1 Freeway the evening of July 18, 2007, according to the prosecution and to initial statements the victim made to emergency medical personnel after the accident.

But on the witness stand, she said she had been drinking and was furious with her husband for not paying enough attention to her at a picnic.

She said she was speeding and weaving between lanes and only went faster after her husband asked her to stop and let him out.

He hit the dashboard with his fist and, when he kicked a DVD player mounted on the dashboard, his foot "slipped" and struck her hand on the steering wheel, Solomua-Alatini testified.

She said she swerved but regained control of the car and then began punching her husband on the arm and chest.

That's when she lost control of the car, which struck the center median and then flipped over several times, Solomua-Alatini said.

Jurors in the case deliberated for about a day and half before telling Del Rosario they were hopelessly deadlocked.

One juror said outside court that the panel was "pretty evenly split" between innocent and guilty verdicts.