Pago Pago, American Samoa — A 29-year-old man from Samoa accused of assaulting his girlfriend with a rock and later punching her in the face denied the allegation against him.

The man, who has been in custody since his arrested in Mar. 17, 2022,  unable to post a $10,000 surety bond, appeared before Acting Associate Justice Elvis P. Patea this week for a change of plea hearing.

However, after the defendant denied assaulting his girlfriend with a rock, during the plea agreement hearing, the court continued his change of plea hearing to Oct. 18.

The defendant, Ezra Williams was initially charged with 2nd- degree assault involving domestic violence, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

However, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Williams had agreed to plead guilty to the sole charge of 2nd- degree assault.

According to terms of the signed plea agreement, the defendant admits that on Mar. 17, 2022 he assaulted his girlfriend using a rock and later punched her in the face.

However, when questioned by the Court, William denied that he ever hit his girlfriend with a rock.

“So what did you do?” Patea asked.

The defendant responded, “I only slapped her in the mouth, but I did not hit her with a rock.”

Patea asked the government’s attorney for the facts of the case. According to the prosecutor, the defendant admits that on the day in question, he hit his girlfriend with a rock and later punched her in the face.

Patea asked Williams if he agreed with the facts the government’s attorney presented to the court and the defendant said he did not use a rock to hit his girlfriend; he only slapped her with his hand.

The defense attorney asked the court to continue the hearing for two weeks and the court granted the motion. Williams remains in custody awaiting his hearing.

LAUTALA MINUTE

A 35-year-old man was arrested by police last month for allegedly assaulting a female by pushing her down and choking her.

Lautala Minute spent three nights at the TCF before he made his initial appearance in District Court last month.

Minute is charged with one count of private peace disturbance and one count of 3rd- degree assault, both class A misdemeanors, punishable by a imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Bail was set at $300, however during his initial appearance hearing, the court decided to released Minute on his own recognizance subject to the usual conditions.

Pretrial conference is next month.

The government alleges that that on Sept. 20, 2022 at approximately 8:46a.m, the FCPS received a call from a man in Ottoville requesting police assistance regarding an incident where a man allegedly assaulted a woman.

The suspect was later identified as Lautala Minute.

Officers interviewed the reporter and the victim regarding the incident.

According to the victim’s statement to officers, while she was doing work in their yard on the road side in Ottoville, she saw two kids at her house and one was lying on the table. She approached them and scolded them and told them to go home. Minutes later, Minute drove by and picked up the kids and left.

However, the suspect turned his vehicle back, parked his vehicle and victim confronted the victim about scolding the kids — telling her she had no right to scold them. An argument ensued between the suspect and the victim resulting in a scuffle and the suspect standing on top of the victim choking her.

The kids who were with the suspect jumped in and pulled the suspect away and they left the scene.

That’s when the victim informed the village mayor about the incident and the mayor called the FCPS for police assistance.