WAILUKU — A Maui man won’t serve additional jail time for biting another’s man ear.
Bruce Ortiz of Wailuku was given credit for the nine days he spent in jail and was sentenced to four years of probation, The Maui News reported Wednesday.
“Did you bite the guy’s ear?” the judge asked at Ortiz’s sentencing hearing.
“Yes,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t mean to bite it off.”
Ortiz, 35, said he was defending himself against a hammer-wielding man. “If he tries to kill someone with a hammer, he deserves it,” Ortiz said. “That’s my only defense I had was to bite. The guy’s swinging a hammer at me at my head. You can kill somebody if you swing the hammer at my head. He intentionally tried to kill me.”
He was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to stay away from people using illegal drugs. He also was ordered to complete anger management treatment, the Wailuku newspaper reported.
Ortiz had pleaded no contest to a reduce charge of second-degree unauthorized entry into a dwelling and second-degree assault.
“Both parties were intoxicated,” said his attorney, Matthew Padgett.
He said the other man picked up a hammer first. He and Ortiz gave different accounts of what happened, Padgett said.