CALVIN Tagabuel, the defendant in a second-degree murder case, testified on his own behalf on Wednesday.
Tagabuel, 48, is accused of causing Lark Kasian’s death by delivering a single punch to Kasian’s face, rendering him unconscious and causing him to fall on the concrete floor at Cool Laundry in Kagman, where he struck the back of his head.
Tagabuel is represented by attorney Joey McDoulett.
During the defense’s direct examination, Tagabuel said Kasian was involved in two prior altercations before the incident that he, the defendant, was involved in. He said he lived in one of the apartments adjacent to Cool Laundry.
Tagabuel said that in the first incident, he saw Kasian on the ground while Todson Sachuo was on top of him.
He said he could not see if Sachuo’s hands were open or closed as he hit Kasian.
Tagabuel said he saw them by the telephone pole in the parking lot of Cool Laundry from inside his car.
Tagabuel said he did not stop the fight because, “I know they are family with each other.”
Earlier, Sachuo testified that Kasian was his uncle.
According to Tagabuel, the next incident involving Kasian was near a poker establishment.
He said he saw Kasian, Sachuo, and David Norita in a “fight.”
Tagabuel said he saw Sachuo throw his right hand and punched Kasian in the face.
“Kasian’s face hit the glass window and he fell backwards with the top of his head hitting the frame of the window. Sachuo hit him again in the face. Kaisan tried to stop his fall by holding himself up, with hands down on the ground, and his head braced on the window frame. I was just shocked and just looking at what was going on,” Tagabuel said.
“I tried to stop and intervene, I pulled Sachuo away, but as I was pulling him away, he threw an elbow at Kasian’s face again, [and Kasian] fell back and hit again his head on the frame,” Tagabuel said.
“Sachuo then lunged forward and hit Kasian again with his elbow,” Tagabuel added.
“I told Sachuo to stop and take it somewhere else. I picked up Kasian and walked him away,” Tagabuel said.
According to Tagabuel, he left his apartment to go to his cousin’s house for about an hour, and when he came back, the Cool Laundry security guard stopped him.
The security guard told Tagabuel that Kasian was behaving very aggressively.
“I feel like there was going to be a fight. I feel threatened,” Tagabuel said.
“I was trying to lead him away from the laundry, he was refusing and pushed me. I feel like he was measuring me up…I thought he was going to strike, he was in a position for a punch…everything happened so fast, I reacted and threw a punch because he was in a fighting position,” he said.
Tagabuel said he thought that Kasian would fight back. He did not expect to put Kasian on the ground, Tagabuel added.
Asked whether he wanted to hurt Kasian, Tagabuel said, “No.”
Tagabuel said he punched Kasian on the chin, and saw Kasian’s knees buckled, then his back hit the ground first and then his head.
“After punching him I tried to wake him up by slapping his face…but he was snoring…he was sleeping,” Tagabuel said. “I moved him from the entrance to the side hallway so that nobody would bother him. He was too drunk and needed to sleep it off,” he added.
Tagabuel said he would have done it differently and that he should have called the police at that time.
Tagabuel said that when he learned of Kasian’s passing, he was shocked. “I didn’t believe my punch would kill him,” he said.
On cross-examination by the prosecution, Tagabuel said he was neither angry nor annoyed at Kasian.
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds said despite Kasian’s slurred speech and loss of balance, “You still punched him.”
“Yes,” Tagabuel replied.
Superior Court Judge Joseph N. Camacho is presiding over the jury trial, which began on Feb. 11, 2025.
Apart from Tagabuel, the defense has also presented testimony from DPS Detective Shannon Dela Cruz, Dr. Danielle Livingstone, a diagnostic radiologist at the Commonwealth Health Center, Lydia Bokuku, a Cool Laundry customer, and David Babauta.
The prosecution has called 14 witnesses.
The jury trial will resume today, Thursday, at 1:30 p.m.
