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Ex-policeman’s
probation file is
ruled confidential

Prosecutors cannot view
Clyde Arakawa's records to
help their case in the
death of Dana Ambrose

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By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

City prosecutors will not get the probation records of retired police officer Clyde Arakawa, who is under investigation for the traffic-related death of 19-year-old Dana Ambrose.

Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario ruled yesterday that probation records are confidential, and granted the Adult Probation Division's request to quash a subpoena by the state seeking Arakawa's records relating to a 1993 conviction for criminal trespassing.

City prosecutors had sought the records to assist in deciding whether to file criminal charges against Arakawa in Ambrose's death. Ambrose was driving home on Oct. 7, 2000, when her car was broadsided by Arakawa, who is suspected of speeding and driving drunk.

Arakawa could be charged with manslaughter or first-degree negligent homicide, or not at all.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said his office "tries to get as much information as humanly possible" to ensure a defendant is not overcharged or undercharged, "but I can use what I have."

Arakawa's probation files could contain information that may be admissible at trial to establish Arakawa's state of mind when he got behind the wheel of his car after drinking on Oct. 7 and collided with Ambrose's car.

If Arakawa is charged with reckless manslaughter, the state will be required to prove that he acted with "conscious disregard" of the risks of his conduct. Arakawa's prior criminal conduct in a previous alcohol-related offense is evidence that he was aware of those risks, Carlisle argued.

Carlisle cited a November 1992 case in which a Kailua resident discovered Arakawa lying on the floor of his living room. Arakawa reportedly reeked of alcohol, had slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet and was demanding to be left alone.

"We are allowed to show he was in an absolutely, stuporously drunken state when he invaded someone's home and fell comatose in a drunken stupor on someone's floor," Carlisle said. Arakawa "woke up belligerent, obnoxious and threatening" and was subsequently convicted of first-degree criminal trespass.

Arakawa's attorney told the court that Arakawa had an "unexpected reaction" to alcohol that caused him to black out. While the attorney said he did not see any evidence that Arakawa had problems with alcohol that needed to be addressed, he did say that Arakawa was aware that blackouts did occur.

The sentencing judge sentenced Arakawa to a year's probation and ordered him to refrain from alcohol and other substances and to submit to alcohol and drug abuse testing.

Attorneys representing Arakawa in a civil case filed by Ambrose's family and the Adult Probation Division contend that the information Carlisle is seeking is, by law, confidential.

In denying the state access to Arakawa's probation records, Judge Del Rosario said he did not believe his ruling is "fatal" to the state's investigation.

The state already has information on the nature and circumstances of the collision, witnesses who say Arakawa ran a red light, an accident reconstructionist who determined that Arakawa was driving 57 to 59 mph in a 25 mph zone, and evidence he was intoxicated, Del Rosario said.

The state also has access to witnesses in the 1992 trespassing case and the records of Arakawa's sentencing hearing, in which the judge ordered Arakawa to stay away from alcohol, Del Rosario said.