"No Contest" For Koby Abberton

You can rest assured that sitting in a courtroom listening to a judge hand down his sentence wasn’t exactly what Koby Abberton had envisioned for himself this winter in Hawaii. Nevertheless, that’s precisely where Abberton found himself, facing Circuit Judge Rey Graulty and a third-degree assault charge for allegedly striking off-duty Honolulu harbor police officer, Richard Puu, outside of Restaurant Epic in the city’s Chinatown district in early March.

Flanked by his attorney, Koby stood comfortably before the judge in a brightly lit Kaneohe courtroom and entered a “no contest” plea to the court.

In response to Abberton’s no-contest plea, Judge Graulty sentenced him to three days in prison and a six-month deferral (essentially a probationary) period.

The charges held a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

“I’ll put my word on it that I’ll never be back here again, Your Honor,” Abberton said to the judge when given a chance to speak.

Following the sentence, Abberton was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs and will serve two days of his three-day sentence at Oahu Community Correction Center, one day being credited for time already served initially following the incident.

When asked if she believed Abberton deserved a harsher sentence, Deputy City Prosecutor Katrina Ordonio stated that, “Yes, I think he got off easy. I think he should have been given more jail time based on the facts of the case, but apparently the court thought otherwise.”

Abberton initially pled not guilty to the charge at a hearing this summer, citing a case of mistaken identity.

According to the State, Harbor Police officer Richard Puu — who was not in the courtroom during the sentencing due to a family emergency — told authorities he was trying to break up a fight between Abberton and other unnamed individuals when Abberton attacked him.

Puu was off-duty and in civilian clothes at the time of the incident.