No Nude Beach Attacks Tolerated

Sunday, December 24, 2006 9:34 AM

Probation given for Little Beach attack
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer

WAILUKU – A judge asked two brothers to put themselves in the shoes of their victims, as the men were placed on probation Thursday for participating in an attack on a tourist at a Makena beach last year.

Second Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza said he suspected 22-year-old Brendan Ortiz and 27-year-old Brian Ortiz would have reacted the same way the visitors did when they saw males using a video camera at Little Beach, where the visitors and their wives were sunbathing nude May 30, 2005.

“Just think about how you want to be treated,” Cardoza told the brothers. “You wouldn’t want that. You wouldn’t stand for that.

“This has nothing to do with the aina or anything like that. This is just how you treat other people.”

Police said the California visitors asked the males, including the Ortizes, to hand over the videotape before an argument broke out, with the males saying: “This is our aina. If you don’t like it, go home. We can do what we want.”

The argument turned physical, police said, and a 39-year-old man suffered fractured ribs when he was punched and kicked.

Originally charged with second-degree assault, the Ortizes pleaded no contest to reduced charges of third-degree assault.

Cardoza followed plea agreements in sentencing both Wailuku men to one year on probation. Brendan Ortiz was given credit for six months he spent in jail through Thursday, while Brian Ortiz received credit for seven days’ incarceration.

The judge denied Brian Ortiz’s request for a chance to keep the conviction off his record, citing the defendant’s other encounters with the law. Cardoza said no further jail time was warranted based on Brian Ortiz’s role, which his attorney described as minimal.

“After the pushing, shoving and altercation, he walked down to where they were and returned some dropped sunglasses,” said defense attorney James Brumbaugh. “This young man is not angry.”

“I don’t want to get into something like this again,” Brian Ortiz said in court Thursday. “I’m really sorry.”

Deputy Public Defender Greg Ball said Brendan Ortiz had a job awaiting his release from jail and hoped to obtain the equivalent of his high school diploma.

“He has tremendous potential,” Ball said.

He said the state Department of Education “has totally defaulted on its obligation” to Brendan Ortiz when his records were misplaced as he was moving from middle school to high school and his special education services stopped.

Deputy Prosecutor Melinda Mendes said she hoped the brothers realized their behavior was juvenile and has to stop.

“They’ve got to realize that they are going to be making a living off the tourists,” she said.

Earlier this year, another brother, Christopher Ortiz, 20, was given a chance to keep a third-degree assault conviction off his record when he was sentenced for his role in the incident. Christopher Ortiz, who was represented by attorney William Sloper, served no jail time.

Last week, a fourth defendant, 19-year-old Justin K. Roman, was sentenced to a nine-month jail term and placed on five years’ probation for punching a 47-year-old California man as he and the other tourists were walking to the parking lot after the confrontation. Roman had pleaded no contest to second-degree assault.

Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.