The murder trial of four South County defendants accused of
involvement in the 1998 disappearance of a Gilroy restaurant owner
was delayed until Jan. 13.
SAN JOSE – The murder trial of four South County defendants accused of involvement in the 1998 disappearance of a Gilroy restaurant owner was delayed until Jan. 13.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Hastings also agreed at the hearing in San Jose Monday to try defendant Gustavo Covian – the alleged trigger man according to at least one police interview – separately from the other three defendants.
Attorneys representing the four defendants in the case – Gustavo Covian, 39, Maria Covian, 28, Ignacio Covian, 31 and Kyung Kim, 46 – and a member of the district attorney’s office had previously agreed to try Gustavo Covian alone and before the others.
Former husband and wife Gustavo Covian and Maria Covian; Gustavo’s brother Ignacio Covian; and Kim are all charged with involvement in the November 1998 disappearance and suspected murder of 49-year-old Young Kim, Kyung Kim’s husband of 24 years and owner of the former Gavilan Restaurant at 6120 Monterey Road.
The decision to try Gustavo Covian separately was based on convenience because Gustavo Covian’s attorney is ready to go to trial, according to deputy district attorney Peter Waite, who is prosecuting the case. But Gustavo Covian’s attorney Thomas Worthington has said trying his client separately is necessary for a fair trial.
“There are many key pieces of evidence out there that have nothing to do with my client,” Worthington said last week, “but with the jury it might become a guilt by association type thing.”
An attorney representing Maria Covian has also requested that his client be granted a separate trial, but that decision won’t be made until a trial judge is named on Jan. 13 – Judge Hastings was a temporary judge for the severance hearing. Waite has said that he will not agree to give Maria Covian a separate trial as he did for Gustavo Covian, citing different circumstances in the two cases.
“My guess is that Gustavo will be tried first after a judge is assigned and the group will follow,” Waite said.
Monday marked the third time the murder trial was delayed due to a shortage of courtrooms and judges.
If convicted of the first-degree murder charges, the defendants could face life in prison without parole. All four of the defendants are currently behind bars in the Santa Clara County Jail without the possibility of bail.
