Posted at 4:43 p.m., Friday, July 30, 2004
Jury convicts Mark of lesser charge of attempted assault
By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer
Mark, 29, has already been convicted of murder last year for shooting plainclothes officer Glen Gaspar three times when he and his companion Calvin Sung tried to arrest Mark at an ice cream parlor at the suburban shopping complex March 4 last year.
But that first jury was not able to reach a verdict on whether Mark tried to kill Sung.
The jury in the retrial of Mark on the attempted first-degree murder charge deliberated for about three full days before returning the verdict. If convicted of attempted first-degree murder, Mark would have faced a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole, the state's harshest sentence.
But the jury found that Mark did not intend to murder Sung and instead convicted him of attempted first-degree assault, which carries a maximum 10-year term.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on another attempted murder charge alleging that Mark tried to kill a man at a church parking lot about a month before the Kapolei shooting.
Mark still faces a mandatory life term with parole when he is sentenced Monday by Circuit Judge Karen Ahn for murdering Gaspar. He will also be sentenced at that time on the assault conviction.
City Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter left the courthouse saying he will comment after Monday's sentencing.
Deputy Public Defender Debra Loy indicated she was pleased with the verdict. "It's still a tragedy for everybody, and it's not the only problem he faces," she said. "We're not ecstatic, but we're happy that the jury worked hard in this case."
