The fate of a 63-year-old Wahiawa man, who was facing life imprisonment with no chance for parole for firing a shotgun at his ex-girlfriend in 2019 near a Nimitz Highway bus stop, has swung dramatically since he was convicted in January.
Circuit Judge Faauuga Tootoo ruled Monday that he will stick with his second sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole on the changed verdict of manslaughter.
Theodore Kim was originally indicted for the Oct. 3, 2019, shooting near Sand Island on charges of attempted first-degree murder, using a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, as well as violating a restraining order.
After a jury-waived trial, Tootoo found Kim guilty of those charges and sentenced him May 18 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But the judge changed his original verdict to attempted manslaughter, which usually carries a 20-year sentence, which spared him from life imprisonment with no chance for parole.
The reason he downgraded the verdict to attempted manslaughter is that he took into consideration that Kim was suffering from extreme mental and emotional distress at the time.
In a court document signed by the judge Feb. 11 in which he changed the verdict, the following findings of fact were found:
>> Kim and the ex-girlfriend had a 16-year romantic relationship, and there were claims of her infidelity immediately before the offenses.
>> She took out a temporary restraining order against him about a claim regarding the couple’s dog, which they shared and for which Kim cared and housed.
>> She had Kim removed from their shared home on the strength of the TRO, then allegedly stole valuable property from him.
These factors raised his emotional and mental stress.
The court document shows that on the morning of the shooting, the ex-girlfriend contacted Kim, “breaking her own TRO, not only to bring the dog, but also so that they could meet and talk.”
When he picked her up in downtown Honolulu, they went to the McDonald’s near the bus stop.
When Kim asked her to come home, an argument ensued and she left with their dog.
That caused Kim’s pent-up emotions to boil over to the point of firing several shotgun rounds at her, the findings say.
The judge said in his order that defense lawyer Nelson Goo never argued for the included offense of attempted manslaughter, which is extreme emotional or mental disturbance, but he did in his motion for acquittal or for a new trial.
Based on the findings, the judge convicted Kim of the lesser sentence of attempted manslaughter.
At sentencing, the state asked the judge to extend the sentence with the possibility of parole because he was a persistent and multiple offender.
Goo wrote in a motion to reconsider the extended sentence, saying that “it is incongruent to find the Defendant guilty of a lesser included offense in count 1 (class A, 20 years), then increase the punishment to life with the possibility of parole.”
He asked the court to reconsider its granting the state’s motion asking the court for an extended term.
The state argued that Kim posed a danger not only to the victim, but to those in cars she sheltered behind.
The deputy prosecutor argued Kim had been convicted in 2014 of first-degree terroristic threatening, assault, abuse of a family or household member involving the same victim in the present case, and drug offenses.
The state said, “Defendant attempts to garner sympathy from the Court in noting Defendant’s age and history,” and does not present any new evidence or argument that would warrant reconsidering its order.
On June 22 the judge heard Kim’s motion to reconsider his sentence, and made his final ruling Monday based upon what had already been presented to him.
