KEALAKEKUA — Continued vacillation by a defendant charged with possession of 14 pounds of marijuana finally resulted in going to trial.
Byung Soo Choi, 57, Kailua-Kona, is charged with second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and attempted first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.
Choi repeatedly seemed willing to accept plea deals, only to back off when it came time to accept the charges.
“It’s almost two hours. The jury is waiting. To have 47 people waiting is very disrespectful,” Third Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra said.
The initial offer of the day was a plea agreement to the promotion and paraphernalia charges which would have led to, at most, six months in jail and four years of probation.
At one point Choi told Ibarra, through his Korean interpreter, “I don’t know what to do.”
Choi signed a guilty plea, but stalled out when Ibarra asked if he pleaded guilty, with the judge reading out the text of the charge.
“If you can’t admit to the factual basis, why plead guilty?” Ibarra asked Choi.
Ibarra then called for the jury selection, citing Choi’s “ambivalence” in accepting the plea.
The state alleges Choi had a total of 14 pounds of marijuana between his vehicle and home and two glass pipes for marijuana smoking.
There was a final attempt to enter a new plea, one that would allow Choi to no contest and possibly qualify for a deferred acceptance of a guilty plea.
But he refused this one as well and the trial began.
Police sergeant Edwin Buyton, who supervised the investigation, testified they recovered four baggies of marijuana in Choi’s vehicle. Three were the side of “eight-balls,” the approximately one-eighth of an ounce of marijuana commonly used in street-level sale.
“It may be good enough for government work, but it’s not enough to convict,” said deputy public defender Wendy DeWeese in her opening statements.
Choi was seen at the Kava Bar on Sept. 23, 2013, Buyton said. Police already had warrants for Choi, his vehicle and home. They saw him move his car a few hundred meters within the parking lot to meet with another truck. Buyton and a detective moved to execute the warrant.
“He was very friendly,” said Buyton, and understood their explanation of their position and the warrants.
Buyton rode in Choi’s vehicle to his home, a condo in the Kailua Village area of Kailua-Kona.
There Buyton testified they recovered the bulk of the drugs, including two garbage bags full of marijuana and two glass smoking pipes.
DeWeese questioned if the amounts in the baggies could have been purchased.
Buyton said the investigation showed Choi was selling, not buying.
Due to the late start, the trial proceeded to entering evidence, then rested.
It is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Choi faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. For the promotion charge, he faces 10 years in prison.
