Mark jury has variety of options
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A Circuit Court jury deliberated but did not reach a verdict yesterday in the murder trial of a man accused of fatally shooting a Honolulu police officer March 4 at the Kapolei Shopping Center. The eight-man, four-woman panel resumes deliberations today.
Shane Mark, 29, was charged with first-degree murder in officer Glen Gaspar's death and attempted first-degree murder for allegedly trying to shoot Gaspar's partner, Calvin Sung.
Gaspar, 40, and Sung were part of a six-man plainclothes unit that had gone to the Kapolei Baskin-Robbins store to arrest Mark in connection with a shooting Feb. 1 in the parking lot of the First Assembly of God church in Moanalua.
Mark also faces two attempted second-degree murder charges for allegedly shooting at two men in the church parking lot and wounding one of them.
The defense contends that Mark was acting in self-defense in both cases.
The jury is sifting through 136 pages of jury instructions.
In addition to the possibility of finding Mark guilty of first-degree murder in Gaspar's death, the jury has the option of finding him guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter.
A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole, while the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is life with the possibility of parole. A manslaughter conviction results in a term of not more that 20 years.
Mark was charged with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly trying to shoot Sung, and if convicted, would face a mandatory term of life without parole.
But the jury also has the option of finding Mark guilty of attempted second-degree murder, attempted first-degree assault, attempted second-degree assault, or second-degree reckless endangering, all of which carry different sentences.
Jury verdict options for the shooting at the church parking lot range from attempted-second degree murder, to attempted first- or second-degree assault, to first-degree reckless endangering.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
