Girl, 16, spared
By Susan Kreifels
serving time in
’97 traffic death
Star-BulletinA 16-year-old Moiliili girl pleaded no contest yesterday to second-degree negligent homicide for her role in the death of a teen-age passenger last year in a Kahala traffic accident.
She could have been incarcerated at a youth facility until age 19. Instead, the girl must serve 100 hours of community service, write letters of apology and talk to students about how driving recklessly changed her life and killed another.
She also is banned from driving until age 18.
In a closed session, the court took no action on the defense's request for a dismissal and to wipe the crime from her records.
Deputy Prosecutor Joseph Lee said the defense can ask again for expungement. A judge will review whether the girl has fulfilled the court's requirements.
Lee said the crime can stay in her record until she turns 21.
Lee said the family of Ross Bonilla, 16, who died in the accident, is "very, very upset" with the defense's version of the accident. "They don't feel it was an accident," Lee said. "They feel she was very much negligent."
Lee said the girl, who was driving with nine others in a new Toyota 4Runner her father bought, was going 57 mph in a 25-mph zone on Kealaolu Avenue, according to police.
The vehicle hit and severed a utility pole before it flipped over.
A lawsuit has been filed in connection with the death.
Defense attorney Michael Green said the girl told him "she was taunted by the passengers. They were saying go back and forth, tip it. She looked in the mirror and was on the wrong side of the road. She tells me she lost control.
Green said what the girl told him about the accident differs from police reports.
"This is parents' worst nightmare," Green said. In the courtroom, "she was crying and sobbing. This girl was terrified."
Green said the girl was a straight-A Iolani School student.
