Attempted murder conviction overturned

Jared Fonua, member of a San Mateo family so well-known to law enforcement the city passed an injunction giving its home a curfew, had his 13-year prison sentence for attacking a man with tree stakes overturned because his defense attorney also represented his relative in another case. Prosecutors decided they could not overcome John Hartford’s conflict of interest and instead offered Fonua, 27, a seven-year prison deal for attempted murder and assault. Fonua accepted and should be released shortly, having served and earned credit for a large chunk of the original sentence, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. In 2005, Fonua, then 22, stood trial for attempting to murder two brothers with his fists and three-foot wooden tree stakes after pulling the brothers from a vehicle the previous October. At the time, Hartford was also representing Fonua’s family in a civil case and allegedly did not call one or more witnesses in Jared Fonua’s criminal trial out of concern it might hurt that outcome. Fonua was convicted on one count of attempted murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The trial was not Fonua’s first-run in with the law. In February 2004, he was arrested and ultimately acquitted of similar charges after a man was shot in the back. Another man, John Tonga, pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon. Three months later, Fonua and another relative, Kent Fonua, were arrested for fighting in the street and assaulting a police officer. Prosecutors documented felony cases related to the Fonua family from 2003, including Timote Fonua who was sentenced to three years in prison for punching a bicyclist riding home from the grocery store carrying a gallon of milk. In February 2005, Olaiha and Willis Fonua were arrested for resisting arrest, threatening an officer and inflicting great bodily injury against an officer. Another Fonua cousin was also tried on gun charges. In December 2006, a judge declared Olaiha Fonua Sr.’s home at 107 N. Grant St. a public nuisance and permanently banned gatherings between 10 p.m. and sunrise. The civil injunction, issued on behalf of the city of San Mateo, also made Fonua liable for any violence on his property. A communications dispatcher who testified at the injunction trial testified that prior to a temporary ban earlier that year, the only address generating a volume of law enforcement calls similar to the Fonua residence was the Hillsdale Shopping Center. Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.