Arraignment delayed in killing of taxi driver
Sue Doyle
NEWPORT BEACH--A judge Friday refused to lower the bail for one of two
taxi drivers accused of fatally shooting a friend last month inside a cab
near the Newport Pier.
An attorney for David Keum Yung Ji, 53, of Anaheim asked Superior Court
Judge Craig E. Robison to reduce the bail from $250,000 to $100,000.
In denying the motion by defense attorney Jeremy Goldman, the judge said
that Ji allegedly committed the crime while on probation.
Ji and Chae Jung Han, 53, of Garden Grove have yet to enter a plea to
murder charges in the death of taxi driver In Hyang Beck, 55, of
Westminster.
They appeared briefly in Harbor Justice Center for arraignment, but the
hearing was continued to June 23. Both men remain in Orange County Jail
on $250,000 bail each. No bail reduction was requested for Han.
Authorities arrested Ji and Han on April 26 in what police allege was
originally a suicide pact among the three men.
Police said the men, all depressed over recent financial problems,
discussed suicide while they drove around Orange County and drank
alcohol.
One of the men brought a handgun along on the ride. Sometime during the
day, the trio stopped and purchased bullets, police said.
The taxi eventually pulled over at West Ocean Front and 24th Street near
the Newport Pier. Beck, who was in the front passenger seat, was shot in
the head at point-blank range, police said.
Newport Beach police Sgt. Mike McDermott said the triggerman has not been
identified.
At Friday’s court appearance, neither Ji nor Han looked at spectators as
they sat inside a holding cell, their heads hanging low.
Han’s mother, Koo Yoon Soon, sat in the audience and wept softly. She
tried to communicate with her son and walked over to the holding cell
with a knotted handkerchief in hand.
A bailiff shooed her away and Soon returned to her seat. She does not
speak English and declined to comment.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.