A 30-year-old Hilo man who was arrested twice in a five-day span for trespassing at the Hilo Wal-Mart store presented his own alternative facts to what appeared in the police report Monday in Hilo District Court.
A 30-year-old Hilo man who was arrested twice in a five-day span for trespassing at the Hilo Wal-Mart store presented his own alternative facts to what appeared in the police report Monday in Hilo District Court.
Christopher Andrew Snow, who has no permanent address, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor trespassing charge, but told Judge Peter Bresciani, “It seems I can’t even walk by Wal-Mart without getting arrested for trespassing.”
Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Shiigi then gave the judge the police report, which said Snow was inside the store late Saturday night despite having been served with four trespassing notices during the previous year, most recently on Jan. 23.
The attached trespass notice, which banned Snow from any Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club in Hawaii for a year, said the store can ban individuals “who interfere with its business, shoplift, destroy property, or otherwise behave in a manner that is unacceptable” to the retail chain.
Shiigi asked Bresciani to sentence Snow to the maximum 30 days in jail, while Deputy Public Defender Austin Tsu requested a 12-day jail sentence with credit for time served.
“You give me the 12 days, I won’t put my foot anywhere near the parking lot,” Snow told the judge.
“According to the police report, you were in the store. You weren’t in the parking lot,” Bresciani replied, and sentenced Snow to 20 days with credit for time served.
“When you start giving me this story that you can’t walk past the place without getting arrested when, in fact, you were in the store … is just insulting the court,” Bresciani said.
“That wasn’t my intention,” Snow replied.
“I think it was your intention to trick the court into believing something different happened than what did happen,” the judge said. “… And I’m going to let you know that’s not a very smart idea, because you might aggravate the court. You understand that?”
Snow mumbled an affirmative answer.
“You can expect 30 days jail the next time,” Bresciani said. “If you want to be someplace for 30 days, you know how to get lodging and food for 30 days.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.