Court briefs

Advertiser Staff

Police officer spared jail term

A 59-year-old Honolulu police officer was sentenced yesterday to 200 hours of community service in connection with a July 31 "peeping tom" incident involving a Hawai'i Kai woman.

In addition, District Judge Tenney Tongg, deferred a 30-day jail sentence for police Lt. Craig Clissold for one year, meaning Clissold won't have to serve time behind bars providing he stays out of trouble during the next 12 months.

City Deputy Prosecutor Christine Denton had asked Tongg to sentence Clissold to 30 days in jail based on the disruption to the victim's life that resulted from the incident. The woman, a flight attendant, called police after hearing noises in her back yard at about 1 a.m.

Clissold was arrested at the scene and charged with misdemeanor invasion of privacy. He pleaded no contest Aug. 13.

A police spokeswoman said Clissold has been reassigned to nonpatrol duties until an internal investigation is completed. Clissold has been a police officer for 29 years, she said.

Man gets life in prison for murder

Circuit Judge Victoria Marks yesterday sentenced Edward Vidal Jr. to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the October 1997 murder of Paris France.

In addition, Vidal, 35, was sentenced to 20 years for criminal conspiracy and five years for hindering prosecution. Marks ordered the sentences to run concurrently.

Vidal pleaded guilty to the charges in May 2000. At the time, Vidal said France was killed because drug distributor Styran Rivera was concerned that France was telling others that Rivera ordered the deaths of two other North Shore men, Steven Tozon and Tranquilino Bati Jr., in June 1997.

When Vidal entered the guilty plea in May 2000, he said Rivera ordered him to kill France and provided him with the gun that was used.