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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, February 3, 2009

'DOG' SIDEKICK ACQUITTED
'Dog' sidekick acquitted

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writers

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Timothy Chapman, left, with his attorney Brook Hart, was acquitted of an indecent exposure charge yesterday at Circuit Court.

Photos by ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Timothy Chapman, left, and his attorney, Brook Hart, listen as Circuit Judge Richard Perkins reads his verdict on the charge of indecent exposure. Perkins found Chapman not guilty.

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A state judge yesterday yesterday found bounty hunter Timothy Chapman not guilty of indecent exposure.

Chapman is a sidekick of Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of the popular "Dog the Bounty Hunter" reality television show. They are not related to each other.

"I believe the judge said it all," Timothy Chapman said yesterday after the verdict in the nonjury trial was announced by Circuit Judge Richard Perkins.

Chapman, in direct testimony yesterday, denied witness accounts that he appeared to be masturbating or fondling himself while sitting in a truck at Ala Moana Center on the evening of Jan. 3, 2008.

He said he had knocked over a half-filled cup of orange juice on his lap and parked his car in what he thought was an empty parking lot near Ala Moana. He moved into the back seat of the truck to clean himself and change his pants, he said. Chapman, who said he doesn't wear underwear, said he used baby wipes to clean his groin area because it was wet and sticky from the orange juice.

After he put on a clean pair of pants, a security guard arrived on the scene and ordered him to get out of the truck, Chapman testified. He also heard the security guard say he would call KGMB-TV, he said in direct testimony.

Chapman said he and other cast members of the reality show had been warned by Duane Chapman's wife, Beth, to avoid getting into situations that could lead to bad publicity.

So he decided to leave, driving over the sidewalk to leave the area.

Asked if he was "concerned" because he wasn't wearing underwear, Chapman said, "No, I figured I had enough privacy with the tinted windows."

Chapman said he never saw a passing pedestrian who claimed she saw him apparently masturbating while sitting in the front seat of the truck.

Security guard Jason Wessel testified that Chapman was in the driver's seat when Wessel arrived at the scene and moved to the back only after seeing the guard.

Chapman wasn't wearing pants, according to Wessel.

Wessel claimed that Chapman nearly ran him down when he drove away. That led to a felony charge of terroristic threatening, but Perkins dismissed that charge last week for lack of evidence.

The charge of indecent exposure was a petty misdemeanor.

"I've maintained my innocence the whole time," Chapman said. "I'm going home now to my babies. I have to sit down and figure out where my life is going. I believe I have an opportunity to get back on the show, but my most important priority is my children."

Chapman explained that he had extra clothes in his car because he had moved out of his house after his wife had an affair and became pregnant. His wife filed for divorce last week just as the criminal trial began.

In ruling Chapman not guilty of the charge, Perkins yesterday said the state did not present direct evidence that Chapman was aware that a woman was walking past his truck.

The judge found there was evidence to indicate that the defendant intended to expose his genitals to a person he was not married to, but the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chapman was aware he offended a passing pedestrian who claims to have seen him apparently masturbating while in the front seat of the truck, Perkins said.

"It is a question of awareness to intentionally expose himself," Perkins said. "The situation is curious and not proof of his state of mind."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.