WOODLAND — Sentencing of a Korean woman found guilty last month of parental child abduction was postponed this week after Nan-Hui Jo requested — and retained — new counsel.
Jo, who said she fled the United States with her infant daughter in 2009 to escape domestic violence at the hands of the child’s American father, was convicted March 3 and was to be sentenced on Wednesday.
But Judge David Rosenberg granted her motion for a continuance so her new attorney — criminal appellate specialist Dennis Riordan — can get up to speed on the case.
Rosenberg said it is “very rare” for new counsel to be brought in at the time of sentencing but added, “if it is, in fact, Ms. Jo’s desire to bring in a new attorney to assist her … I will allow it.”
Attorney Matthew Dirkes, who was in court on behalf of Reardon on Wednesday, said the continuance would allow the defense to determine whether there are any issues that might warrant a new-trial motion.
The continuance was opposed by Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Mount, who said, “It’s hard to imagine how the defense wants Ms. Jo in custody,” given that the prosecution would not have opposed her release after sentencing on Wednesday.
Instead, she will remain at the Yolo County Jail at least until April 28, the new date set for sentencing.
Jo has been in custody since July when she re-entered the United States with her daughter and was immediately detained. They had been living in South Korea for nearly five years.
Her first trial on parental child abduction charges in December ended in a hung jury with jurors split 6-6, and the second trial last month ended with a guilty verdict after a little more than a day of deliberations.
As they have throughout Jo’s legal proceedings, supporters wearing purple ribbons — the color of domestic violence awareness — filled the courtroom on Wednesday.
Jesse Charlton, the child’s father, also was there and had been prepared to read a statement at sentencing, Mount said.
Deputy Public Defender Dean Johansson, who had been representing Jo until being replaced Wednesday by Reardon, declined to comment after the hearing.
— Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8051. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy