DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Charles Marsland Jr., left, awaited yesterday's hearing in court with friend Polly Grigg and attorney Darwin Ching.
Marsland found
guilty in accidentThe ex-city prosecutor had
scraped another car while parking
A District Court judge found former city Prosecutor Charles Marsland Jr. guilty yesterday for failing to report an accident at a Hawaii Kai shopping center.
Marsland pleaded no contest before District Judge Christopher McKenzie, who suspended a $100 fine requested by Deputy Attorney General Colleen Chun. Marsland was required to pay $27 in court fees.
"He was unaware that he hit the car," said Marsland's attorney, Darwin Ching. "If he knew that he hit the car, he would've clearly taken care of the matter."
Marsland was parking his white 2000 Ford Crown Victoria at Hawaii Kai Towne Center on Sept. 14 when his car scraped the driver's side of a blue 1988 BMW owned by a Hawaii Kai resident. He entered Fantastic Sam's to get a haircut after he parked his car.
A witness at the store left a note on the BMW that another car had caused the damage.
Marsland was cited under the statute "duty upon striking an unattended vehicle or other property."
Damage to the BMW was estimated to exceed $1,000 and was taken care of by Marsland's insurance company, Ching said.
After the trial, Marsland apologized to the owner of the BMW.
