HONOLULU -- Trial began Wednesday for a man charged with robbing two Manoa women in their home. The defense says the wrong man is on trial.

On July 8, 2000, Shaun Rodrigues broke into an Oahu Avenue home and, at gunpoint, tied up mother and daughter Diane and Dawn Sugihara, prosecutors told the judge.

At one point, Rodrigues ordered Diane Sugihara to give him her wedding ring or face having her finger cut off, prosecutors said.

"This defendant told her 'take off the ring or I'll cut off your finger.'" city deputy prosecutor Russell Uehara said. "Mrs. Sugihara was scared. She didn't want to get shot. She didn't want her finger to get cut off."

Prosecutors say Rodrigues had been in the Sugihara home twice before -- as an employee for an alarm company.

They say when the Sugiharas told their attacker their home had already been broken into twice, he responded, "You got to get a better alarm system."

The defense says this is a clear case of mistaken identity. They say Rodrigues is not the man who attacked the Sugiharas in their own home.

"Shaun Rodrigues is not guilty of any of the charges in this case," said Rodrigues' attorney, William Harrison. "He was home sleeping at the time this event happened."

The defense wonders why the Sugiharas were not able to immediately identify Rodrigues as their attacker, even though he had been in their home twice before as an alarm company employee.

There is no jury in this case. Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall alone will determine Shaun Rodrigues' fate on charges of burglary, robbery and kidnapping.