HONOLULU (KHON2) -- It was a crime that made national headlines: When the body of Gary Ruby was found in his tub, encased in concrete.
Juan Baron admitted his guilt in court in a plea deal but now claims he didn't understand and that he is innocent of the crime. I spoke to defense attorney Victor Bakke, who is not affiliated with the case. He says the court will likely be hesitant to let him withdraw his guilty plea.
Victor Bakke, defense attorney: His biggest challenge is the fact that he pled guilty.
Victor Bakke, defense attorney: Most of the time, when you see these types of motions, the person pled no contest, meaning they didn't say they did it.
According to court documents, Baron admitted to murdering Ruby, who was his boyfriend, and trying to cover it up by putting his body in a tub and encasing it with concrete at Ruby's Hawaii Loa Ridge home.
Bakke, who is a defense attorney but is not affiliated with this case, says the court is very meticulous when a defendant takes a plea deal for such a serious crime. Baron was also provided an interpreter.
Victor Bakke: So when the judges spend that amount of time trying to protect the defendant and they tell the judge that everything is correct and that they're doing this freely of their own will, it's very difficult to go back before that same judge and say, "Oh, well, judge, you know, everything we just talked about, forget about that; I didn't understand."
Baron's plea deal does not specify the length of time he would spend behind bars but suggests a minimum of 20 years for murder and 10 years for theft.
Victor Bakke: If the court does allow him to withdraw the plea, then he will lose the protections, if any, that he had under the plea agreement, and he will be forced to go to trial as originally charged.
Attorney Myles Breiner represented Baron at the time he pled guilty but filed a motion to withdraw counsel a few months later. He says, "We stand by the hard work we did for Baron. In light of the charges, the plea agreement guaranteed him the possibility of parole. Absent the plea agreement, if convicted, he will very likely die in prison."
I spoke with Gary Ruby's niece, who says this feels like an injustice.
Maia Ruby: There's nothing that can be done about what happened to my uncle. It's not about retribution at this point; it's about protecting everybody else.
Maia Ruby: Here is a man who has repeatedly lied, tried to withdraw his confession, and said that he didn't speak English well enough, but yet doctored serious legal documents. It's a travesty of justice that anybody will represent him.
Maia Ruby: This, to me, just seems to kind of be a farce of a legal system that revictimizes families.
Baron is now represented by attorney Randall Hironaka. KHON2 reached out to him for comment and are waiting for a response.
