Lawyer Mentions 2 Possible Defense Plans for Grocer

Two possible defense arguments--that one of the victims was threatening him with a gun, and that the defendant is insane--surfaced Wednesday during a preliminary hearing for a grocer accused of murdering a teenage girl and attempting to murder her four young companions.

The issues arose after defense attorney Tyson B. Park submitted an unsuccessful motion to suspend the hearing until the mental competence of his client, Korea Jo Won Kim, can be determined.

“It is my impression that the defendant’s present mental condition is such that the defendant is unable intelligently to discuss the facts concerning the case, and I believe the defendant’s mental illness may render defendant unable to stand trial,” Park said in the motion submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael K. Kellogg.

Prosecutors contend that Kim fired several shots into a car carrying 17-year-old Brenda Hughes and several boys Nov. 21, killing her. Police say that moments earlier, Kim had confronted some of the boys, whom he believed had tried to steal a can of beer from his store in Highland Park. He followed them out of the store and toward their car, where Hughes was waiting in the back seat, police said.

Wha Sung Kim, the defendant’s wife, has suggested that her husband, who suffered from depression, “just snapped” after a string of seemingly endless threats that cut into their meager profits.

But Park said insanity is not the only possible defense.

While refusing to go into detail, the defense attorney said outside the courtroom Wednesday that Kim has told him that he saw “a guy in the front seat leaning backward, picking up a gun.”

Park said his client’s recollections are not clear, and the next thing Kim remembers is that he was standing with a gun in his hand.

In the motion he submitted Wednesday, Park maintained that his client has “a history of mental illness,” adding that the “young lady’s death as a result of this incident directly caused his mental illness.”

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Kellogg countered that while Kim “appears to be remorseful,” the fact that he is depressed by the girl’s death does not address the issue of whether he understands the criminal proceedings against him and is able to participate in his defense.

Saying that the defendant appeared to him to be alert and cognizant of what was going on in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Kellogg denied Park’s motion to suspend the proceedings.

The judge also turned down Park’s request for a reduction in Kim’s $3.18-million bail. Noting that for purposes of determining bail, defendants must be presumed guilty, Kellogg said that if Kim is also insane--as Park suggested--then questions about the defendant’s stability weigh further against his release.

“I have an obligation to protect the public,” Kellogg said.