The recent arrest of a Wai'anae man who allegedly stabbed his wife in the neck has renewed calls for stiffer penalties for individuals if they violate temporary restraining orders.

David E. Tautua, 43, who has 19 criminal convictions, was arrested Tuesday after he was accused of stabbing his wife in the neck with a kitchen knife. He was charged with second-degree attempted murder and is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

On Tuesday, three witnesses told police they saw Tautua stab his wife, Gina, according to court documents.

Tautua told his wife, "I love you but you going die today," according to court documents. Gina Tautua, who has a daughter and a son with her husband, remains in critical condition at The Queen's Medical Center.

At the time of his attack, Tautua was in violation of a family court protective order after he was arrested several times over the past two years for allegedly choking, threatening and hitting his wife. The order was put in place in July and was valid until 2010.

"He is not mean to the children, but he is to me," wrote Gina Tautua in a May 22 letter to a Family Court judge asking for the order.

Tautua wrote that her husband told her on May 15 that if he goes to jail he will "buy a gun and kill me and that I will never be able to divorce (him) or he would rather have me dead than not have me at all."

In September 2005, David Tautua was arrested and later convicted of third-degree assault after he dragged his wife around by the hair and picked her up and threw her to the ground repeatedly. In April, he was arrested after police responded to his home to find him choking his wife, according to court documents.

The Tautua case is yet another example of the need to increase penalties for people who violate temporary restraining orders, Honolulu city prosecutor Peter Carlisle said at a news conference yesterday.

Carlisle and state Attorney General Mark J. Bennett proposed legislation last session to accomplish that, but the bill stalled in the house after a "watered down" version of it passed through the Senate, he said.

Under the proposed law, if an individual violated a protective order and was arrested for second-degree assault, the offense would be charged as first-degree assault.

"It is obvious that the TRO was not effective in preventing domestic violence (in the Tautua case) and that is too often the case," Carlisle said. "If you do not restrain yourself you are going to go to prison and go to prison for a long time and that will send a message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated."

An amended measure passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 25-0 vote, but several key crimes such as homicide were removed, Carlisle said.

"We tried to put a bill together that could pass the Senate and that could take into account some of the concerns," said Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku). "The art of politics is to submit what can be passed and then continue to work on the bill. Although it wasn't the whole enchilada like (Carlisle) wanted, it did strengthen penalties. Unfortunately, it didn't pass and that's for the House to explain."

Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, D-45th (Wai'anae, Makaha, Makua), who chaired the House committee where the measure stalled, did not return messages yesterday seeking comment.

There were at least two murders last year allegedly committed by individuals who violated protective orders.

Zenaida Dumaslan was killed July 22, 2006, after her boyfriend, Ronante Aquino, allegedly stabbed Dumaslan "numerous times," according to court records.

Police found Dumaslan lying in her kitchen, according to documents filed by city prosecutors.

Dumaslan had sought a temporary restraining order in 2004 against Aquino, but she dissolved the order herself in 2005, according to court documents.

On July 16, 2006, Vernon E. Costa allegedly ran his ex-girlfriend, Janelle Nardin, and her two friends off Mamalahoa Highway on the Big Island.

Both friends were killed in the high-speed crash.

Costa is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, two drug charges and six traffic charges.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.