Mark Char set the tone for his sentencing hearing in state court for attempted murder and assault Monday when he entered the courtroom in blackface.
He had apparently used
a black felt-tip marker to cover his face.
Char, 60, accused the
city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of corruption, accused his fifth court-appointed lawyer for the case of being ineffective and called his trial a kangaroo court.
“You treating me like a black man, so today I am
a black man,” Char told Circuit Judge Todd Eddins.
Eddins made no mention of Char’s appearance.
Char’s lawyer, Keith Shigetomi, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the proceeding that he didn’t inform the judge
beforehand, saying it was Char’s choice to appear that way. Shigetomi withdrew as Char’s lawyer after the sentencing.
Char continued talking and laughing after he told Eddins that he was done with his pre-sentencing statement, even as Eddins was talking.
A state jury found Char guilty in March of attempted murder and two counts of assault for stabbing the driver of another car, the car’s passenger and a bystander in a road rage incident on the H-1 freeway in Waipahu in 2016.
Eddins sentenced Char to the mandatory life prison term with possible parole for attempted murder, maximum five years in prison for second-degree assault and one year for third-degree assault. He also ordered Char to pay $16,674 in restitution for the driver’s lost wages and the passenger’s medical bills.
According to evidence presented in trial, Char cut in front of another motorist and repeatedly brake-checked him. When the motorist, Jesther Marlang, pulled off the freeway onto the median, Char pulled off in front of him, reversed and crashed into the front of Marlang’s car.
When Marlang and his passenger, Deion Anunciacion, stepped out of their car, Char hit them with pepper spray from two cans and stabbed them with a push knife. During the ensuing struggle Char bit down on two of Marlang’s fingers so hard that they sprayed blood into Char’s face as they were nearly severed. Char also stabbed a passing motorist, Jene Winn, who stopped and tried to break up the confrontation.
With Marling lying on the ground next to the roadway, Char got back into his car, drove home with his wife and disposed of the knife and cans of pepper spray.
“You’re a menace to the public. You’re a menace based on the misconducts, the repeated misconducts, I’ve seen since you’ve been incarcerated. You’re a menace to the prison system. This is not a kangaroo court; you got a fair trial,” Eddins said.
Char was sentenced to probation in 2006 for causing a traffic collision that injured another person. While the case was pending, a mental health expert who examined Char found that he had a pattern of harassing others, diagnosed him with a persecutory-type
delusional disorder and
recommended treatment.
Eddins told Char that the diagnosis was spot on and that if he had received treatment, he perhaps wouldn’t be going to prison for the rest of his life.
Char is again facing the negligent-injury charge because the state Intermediate Court of Appeals overturned the conviction. He is also facing trial for terroristic threatening and firearm possession charges for a 2013 incident, and assault and criminal property damage charges for another road rage incident that happened two months before the attempted murder case.