HILO — A 42-year-old Volcano man who pulled a handgun on his wife and two children during a domestic dispute last year was acquitted because of diminished mental capacity.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara on Thursday committed Ben Lucas Domingo to the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe, Oahu. Hara presided over a nonjury stipulated facts trial Oct. 31.
During sentencing, the judge said “beyond a reasonable doubt” Domingo committed the offenses of kidnapping, being a felon in possession of a firearm, violating a protective order and terroristic threatening.
“Court will also find … after reviewing the reports of the examiners that were submitted, that at the time of these offenses, that Ben Domingo did suffer from a mental defect or disease or disorder … diagnosed as major depression,” Hara added. “And, as a result, he lacks the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. … Therefore, the court will acquit Mr. Domingo for the charges that he could be found guilty of.”
The police Special Response Team, the department’s SWAT unit, responded to the family’s Mokuna Street home on the evening of Sept. 4, 2015, after receiving a report of an argument between Domingo and his wife, Nicole Young Domingo, that escalated into a critical incident due to Domingo possessing a firearm. At the time, Domingo was under a court order not to contact, threaten or physically harm his wife.
According to court documents filed by police, Domingo held his wife in a headlock with one arm while pointing a silver and black handgun to her head with the other hand. Their daughter, then 14, and son, then 12, witnessed the incident.
The court filings stated Domingo pointed the firearm at the children and told them “get out.”
Nearby homes were evacuated and members of the police Crisis Negotiation Team communicated with the family throughout the night.
No one was injured and Domingo was arrested without incident the next morning. Police executed a search warrant and found a .22-caliber Phoenix Arms semi-automatic pistol.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.