Officer's killer gets 150-year sentence
By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer
Shane Mark, convicted of murdering police officer Glen Gaspar in 2003, has been ordered to serve 150 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
The minimum term for Mark is one of the longest issued by the three-member Hawai'i Paroling Authority, which said a "significant factor" in its decision was the nature of the offenses.
Mark
Mark, 30, was convicted of shooting the 12-year police veteran in a Kapolei ice-cream parlor March 4, 2003, and of eight other related felony convictions.
Gaspar's family and city prosecutors applauded the decision.
Greig Gaspar, the officer's brother and family spokesman, said he was pleased with the minimum term for Mark, but wished it could have been longer.
"Because it was my brother and I'm not going to have another brother, he (Mark) should rot in jail," Greig Gaspar said.
Mark's lawyer said she was "appalled" and said they intend to appeal the convictions and sentences.
While Mark's minimum term is one of the longest, it's not as severe as the board's decision earlier this year ordering Miti Maugaotega Jr. to first serve a life sentence without parole and then 140 years before he can be considered for parole.
Maugaotega was convicted of shooting a Punchbowl man at his home during a daylight burglary and a series of other crimes, including sexual assault.
In the Mark case, city Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter had asked for a 200-year minimum, but said he was pleased with the 150 years.
He said the parole authority's decision was "fair and deserved" in view of Mark's criminal history and his actions that led to convictions. Mark's prior convictions include auto theft and burglary.
Van Marter said within months of Mark's release from prison in late 2002, he shot one man at a Moanalua church parking lot, then later shot Gaspar and tried to shoot another officer at Kapolei.
The deputy prosecutor said Mark could ask that the 150 years be reduced, but only after he serves a third of the term, or 50 years in prison. Since Mark would get credit from the time of his arrest following the shooting when he was 28, Mark would be 78 by the time he asks for a reduction.
Deputy Public Defender Debra Loy, Mark's lawyer, said the parole board and the judge are making "a mockery of what the jury determined the crime to be" when they "use numbers that large that are beyond possibility."
Mark was convicted by the jury of lesser offenses, but Circuit Judge Karen Ahn enhanced the sentences to pave the way for paroling authorities' decision.
Loy said her client's reaction was "this is wrong."
Mark was convicted of murdering Glen Gaspar, 40; attempted assault of Gaspar's fellow plainclothes officer, Calvin Sung; shooting a man Feb. 1, 2003, at the church parking lot; a drug charge; and related firearm offenses.
Gaspar and Sung went to the ice-cream parlor to arrest Mark based on the February 2003 shooting. Mark's defense was that he acted in self-defense, not knowing Gaspar and Sung were officers, but thinking they were men attacking him in retaliation for the earlier shooting.
City prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction for Gaspar's death that carries a mandatory life term without parole, but apparently could not convince the jury that Mark knew Glen Gaspar, who was wearing civilian clothes at the time of the shooting, was an officer. That led to a second-degree murder conviction and sentence of life with parole.
The jury also rejected an attempted first-degree murder conviction and returned a lesser verdict of attempted assault on Sung.
Ahn sentenced Mark anyway to a life term without parole for the murder, ruling that he posed a danger to the community. She also extended a firearm conviction to a life term with parole. That was the sentence that led to the 150-year minimum.
She ordered all the sentences to run at the same time.
Under state law, Mark can ask the governor to commute the life without parole sentence to life with parole after he serves 20 years of his sentence. But even if Mark receives a commutation, he would still face the 150-year minimum term for using the firearm.
Greig Gaspar said the family is still pursing a lawsuit filed against the Honolulu Police Department alleging that police failed to follow department policy requiring officers to wear bullet-proof vests while arresting a dangerous person. Glen Gaspar wasn't wearing a vest.
Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
