Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Sung-Ho Hwang confers with his attorney, Hugh Keefe.
A pistol-packing moviegoer landed in a familiar spot Wednesday: the Elm Street courthouse. This time he played the role of defendant, not lawyer — as his own lawyer sought to change the subject of the charges against him.
The defendant, Sung-Ho Hwang, appeared on charges of breach of peace and interfering, stemming from an Aug. 7 incident at the Criterion movie theater downtown. Hwang was arrested there after bringing a loaded .40-caliber Glock pistol to a showing of the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Night Rises.” He had a permit for the pistol. He was charged for allegedly refusing the orders of cops who stormed the theater after hearing reports of an armed man there. Hwang allegedly laughed and used his cell phone as police pointed their guns at him and demanded he show his hands.
The New Haven incident came on the heels of a July 20 massacre in Aurora, Colorado, in which a heavily armed man opened fire in a crowded showing of “The Dark Night Rises,” killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.
Following Hwang’s arrest he and Mayor John DeStefano staged dueling press conferences at which Hwang said the 2nd Amendment was under attack and DeStefano suggested the city have a discussion about the role of guns in public places. He questioned whether there is a place for guns in movie theaters. Hwang said he was packing heat because the movie was getting out late and he wanted to have protection on the walk home to his downtown condo.
On Wednesday morning, Hwang showed up in court wearing a blue shirt and gold tie under a black suit. He walked behind the bar that usually separates lawyers from their clients. Hwang, a respected member of the local bar, greeted his fellow attorneys warmly as he waited to be called.
The proceedings, which began shortly after 10 a.m., were brief. Judge Susan Connors granted a continuance so that state prosecutor David Strollo could complete discovery. She set a new court date for Sept. 5.
Afterwards, out in the hallway, Hwang declined to speak with the press. Instead, his attorney, Hugh Keefe, obliged. Keefe repeatedly framed the issue as whether Hwang had a right to carry a gun.
Keefe (pictured) was asked about a detailed account from the cop who arrested Hwang. (Read it here.) The officer, Sgt. Rob Criscuolo, said the arrest had nothing to do with gun offenses, but rather Hwang’s alleged bizarre refusal to comply with police demands in a tense, potentially dangerous situation.
Keefe called Criscuolo’s account “interesting.”
“It’s not an accurate account,” Keefe said. He declined to say what did happen in the theater, if the police account is untrue. “That’s what courts are for.”
He said later that Hwang cooperated with police when they ordered him to raise his hands.
Hwang has not entered a plea. If he does, it will be “not guilty,” Keefe said. The case might be disposed of without a plea being entered, he said.
It was a “bad arrest,” Keefe said. Hwang is a “totally innocent person” who was simply trying to see a movie, when he found himself surrounded by cops pointing guns at him. “Clearly that does not have a positive effect on him.”
Hwang was lawfully carrying his permitted pistol, Keefe said.