KEALAKEKUA — A plea agreement has been reached with a man accused of drunken driving twice within 24 hours and striking a pedestrian eight months ago resulting in the dismissal of most charges original brought against him.
On Tuesday, Nicholas Martin entered a no contest plea to first-degree negligent injury, a class C felony, and driving under the influence of alcohol before 3rd Circuit Court Judge Melvin H. Fujino. Under the agreement, prosecutor’s will drop seven other offenses.
Among the charges dismissed in the agreement was one count second-degree assault, also a class C felony, and several misdemeanors. The defense also requested a deferral of Martin’s plea on the negligent injury charge, which means if restitution is made for the felony, it would be dismissed with prejudice. He faces between a year and five years incarceration and a $10,000 fine.
The deferral only applies to the negligent injury charge.
A pre-sentence investigative report will be conducted before Fujino sentences Martin on Sept. 5.
The charges stem from a crash that occurred on Dec. 1, 2017. According to the Hawaii Police Department, Martin was traveling north on Alii Drive when he veered off the road and struck a 51-year-old man in front of Royal Kahili Condos.
Martin was already facing a DUI charge before that auto-pedestrian crash occurred. On Nov. 30, 2017, Martin was arrested at 9 p.m. after striking a parked vehicle on Lako Street, said police Maj. Robert Wagner. He was charged with DUI and was released just after midnight Dec. 1 after posting $500 bail.
Wagner said Martin appeared to still have a driver’s license when the auto-pedestrian crash occurred hours later. However, two different vehicles were involved in the crashes.
According to court records, Martin’s driver’s license was revoked for one year on Dec. 7, 2017, in connection to the Nov. 30 crash. The case was consolidated with incident that occurred on Dec. 1. According to Dec. 28 court records, no further action was taken on that November case.