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Maui man will stand
By Gary T. Kubota
trial in pedestrian death
Star-BulletinWAILUKU -- A 25-year-old man is to stand trial in Maui Circuit Court in the traffic death of Maui artist David Warren.
Cyrus R. Boteilho Jr. of Pukalani pleaded not guilty yesterday to the charge of first-degree negligent homicide and reckless driving. Boteilho is free in lieu of $20,000 bail.
His trial is scheduled on Sept. 25 before Judge Artemio Baxa.
Warren, 58, died on June 4, 1998, four days after being struck as he walked near his home in Pukalani.
Prosecutors allege Boteiho was speeding and under the influence of crystal methamphetamine when his pickup drove mauka on Iolani Street and entered the intersection at Aliiolani Street shortly before 7:30 p.m. on May 31, 1998.
A Kula man, then 68 years old, was driving a car in the opposite direction and turned left on Aliiolani Street. His car pulled into the path of the pickup.
Prosecutors allege the pickup spun, sheered off a nearby stop sign, and struck Warren.
Warren later died of severe head injuries at Queen's Hospital in Honolulu.
A Maui grand jury indicted Boteilho on May 26. He was arrested Friday.
Asked why authorities took nearly two years to bring the charges, Maui Police Chief Thomas Phillips said traffic cases usually take a long time because it's necessary to reconstruct the accident scene.
Phillips said until recently, Maui had only one person qualified to reconstruct accident scenes and the workload was heavy.
He said the traffic section, with only three out of seven positions filled, is as understaffed as many other sections in the police department.
Phillips said the understaffing is due in part to low pay and also a decreasing pool of applicants here and across the country.
Shortly after the traffic death, Boteilho was sentenced in a separate incident to five years in prison for drug-related convictions involving crystal methamphetamine.
He was released from Maui Community Correctional Center on May 31, after serving two years.
If convicted of first-degree negligent homicide, Boteilho could face up to 10 years in prison.
