Jury finds Mark guilty of second-degree murder

By David Waite and Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writers

A man who claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot a Honolulu police officer March 4 in Kapolei was found guilty yesterday of second-degree murder after a jury rejected the charge of first-degree murder.

Renee Gaspar reacts to the second-degree murder conviction of Shane Mark in the March 4 shooting of her ex-husband, Glen. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

The jury was not able to reach verdicts on three of the seven charges against Mark, including attempted first-degree murder for allegedly trying to shoot officer Calvin Sung during an arrest operation in the Kapolei Baskin-Robbins.

Mark, 29, dressed in a long-sleeve striped shirt and brown slacks, stood at the defense table and showed little emotion as the verdicts were read. Deputy public defenders Theresa Marshall and Debra Loy smiled, and Marshall patted Mark on the back two or three times.

Glen Gaspar's former wife, Renee, cried quietly and held the hand of one of her daughters as the verdicts were read after five days of deliberation. Greig Gaspar, the officer's older brother, wiped away tears as his parents sat quietly.

Greig Gaspar, the family's spokesman since the shooting, said the family was "totally pleased" with the verdict. But Police Chief Lee Donohue and deputy prosecutor Christopher Van Marter said they were disappointed the verdict was not for first-degree murder.

"It is shocking and disturbing to know that such an individual may one day be able to return to the community," Donohue said.

Mark still faces lengthy prison time.

Van Marter said he will ask Circuit Judge Karen Ahn on Feb. 24 to sentence Mark to three consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole on the second-degree murder charge and to extended terms for convictions on two firearms charges.

If Ahn grants the request, Mark could spend what amounts to a life term in prison.

Mark had 'intention' to kill

Flanked by his counsel, Shane Mark listens as the jury is polled after his conviction in the murder of Honolulu officer Glen Gaspar. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Melissa Sennett, Mark's former girlfriend and the mother of his child, said the verdict wasn't harsh enough.

"He should have gotten first-degree murder," said Sennett, who was a witness for the prosecution during the two-week trial. "He went there (to the meeting at Baskin-Robbins) with the intention of killing a cop. He was afraid of getting arrested."

Sennett, interviewed yesterday from her home in Kansas, said Mark boasted about being wanted by the police. Sennett was at the Baskin-Robbins at the time of the shooting and was the person who tipped off police that Mark would be there.

Defense lawyer Loy said she was "unhappy" with the verdicts.

"This case was a tragedy for everybody," Loy said. "We're unhappy it's not all resolved, and we obviously are unhappy that some of the jurors did not accept our defenses. But, obviously, some of them did and it will be decided later."

Gaspar was the 37th Honolulu police officer killed in the line of duty and the first fatally shot since Troy Barboza was killed at his home by a drug dealer on Oct. 22, 1987.

Three other verdicts reached

HPD officer Calvin Sung testified during Mark's trial. The jury failed to reach a verdict on whether Mark tried to kill Sung. Advertiser library photo • Dec. 9, 2003

But the jury told Ahn that it could not reach verdicts in three other counts brought against Mark: attempted first-degree murder for allegedly trying to shoot officer Sung at the Kapolei ice cream store, attempted second-degree murder for shooting at a second man during the Feb. 1 incident in Moanalua, and of using a firearm in connection with the Feb. 1 shooting.

Van Marter said he wasn't sure whether he will retry Mark on the three remaining charges.

A tentative trial date has been set for June 7.

"I need to consider the likelihood of conviction, presenting the same evidence to a different jury, the trauma just associated with having to repeat these facts and events again, and whether it's going to have any meaningful impact on the ultimate outcome and how much prison time he serves," he said.

Gaspar and Sung were part of six-man police plainclothes unit that had gone to the Kapolei ice cream store March 4 in hopes of arresting Mark in connection with the Feb. 1 shooting.

Based on information provided by Sennett, police did not expect Mark to be armed.

But as Gaspar and Sung approached Mark, he pulled a .22-caliber revolver from his pocket or waistband and shot Gaspar twice in the chest and once in the hand. Gaspar was pronounced dead a short while later at St. Francis-West Medical Center.

Loy maintained throughout the trial that Mark acted in self-defense in both the Feb. 1 and March 4 incidents, believing his life was in danger.

Mark did not deny shooting Gaspar, but claimed Gaspar and Sung never identified themselves as police officers as they approached him. Mark said he believed the two officers were men sent to retaliate against him for the Feb. 1 incident.

In that incident, Mark said he confronted two men over a defective video camera and was demanding a $150 refund when the men began to threaten him and took the camera from him.

Van Marter yesterday said he did not speak with the jurors after the verdicts, but he speculated that the jurors didn't think that Gaspar and Sung did enough to identify themselves as police officers.

"Maybe (the jurors) felt that the defendant probably knew, but they wanted more," Van Marter said.

More importantly, however, Van Marter said, the jurors threw out Mark's claim that he was acting in self-defense.

"They had to reject self-defense for not only the Baskin-Robbins incident, but also the Moanalua incident, otherwise they couldn't return guilty verdicts for anything," he said. "Basically, they're saying that even if Shane Mark thought that they were bad guys, this use of deadly force was still unjustified. Whether they were good guys or bad guys, he was not justified in using deadly force."

Advertiser staff writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report. Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.