The defendant, 41-year-old Young Cheon Kim, will be released to a third-party custodian.
Kim appeared in court in a wheelchair and his right arm in a cast, with his counsel, Robert T. Torres, for the bail hearing yesterday.
Chief prosecutor Kevin Lynch represented the government.
A $500,000 bail bond was earlier recommended for the defendant’s temporary release after the court found probable cause to charge Kim with one count of driving on the right side of highway-exceptions, one count of exceeding maximum speed limit, one count of reckless driving-bodily injury/property damage, one count of driving under the influence of alcohol, and one count of homicide by vehicle.
Govendo set the preliminary hearing for Dec. 10 at 9 a.m. and the arraignment for Dec. 18 if the defendant cannot come up with the cash bail.
In an affidavit, Traffic Investigator Flor T. Estabillo stated that Sgt. Alfred Celes called Department of Public Safety central at about 10:10 p.m. on Nov. 29 to report an automobile accident in front of the residence of Steven Sablan across from Borja Funeral Home in Susupe.
Estabillo said he and Officer Glenn Rabago responded to the crash scene.
Upon arrival, he said they saw a red Ford Taurus sedan with extensive damage to its front portion and its interior.
There was also extensive damage to the concrete fence of Sablan’s residence.
Estabillo said the defendant was the operator of the vehicle while his wife, 40-year-old Yong Kyong Lee, was the passenger.
Police said they had a hard time trying to remove Lee who was trapped between the front passenger seat and the dashboard.
The couple was brought to the Commonwealth Health Center for treatment where Lee succumbed to severe head and chest injuries, which included a fractured right rib cage and a smashed right leg.
She was pronounced dead by Dr. Martin Rohringer at 10:40 p.m.
Kim is recovering from abrasions to his right arm, forearm, right hand, right rib cage and his left knee.
Lee also worked for Saipan World Resort.
Estabillo said preliminary investigation showed that the Ford Taurus operated by the defendant was traveling northbound along Beach Road in Susupe when it veered off the highway onto the northbound shoulder and struck Sablan’s concrete wall.
Witnesses said the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed.
Officer Juan Mendiola arrested Kim at about 11:45 p.m. for reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Estabillo said speed and alcohol were factors in the crash based on Kim’s blood alcohol level which was 1.79.
The blood alcohol limit is 0.8.
In an interview, defense counsel Robert T. Torres said: “This is a very difficult case. The loss of the defendant’s wife is devastating and she left behind two young children. We will assist the defendant in this traffic case and see to it that justice is done. I know this is not the first accident of its kind, but I hope this would be the last.”
Lee is the fourth crash fatality on Saipan in the past two weeks. On Nov. 16, three people died when their vehicle smashed into an electric post in Susupe.
