AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Connie Abram, center, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, hugged Donna Borengasser, longtime companion of Dannygriggs Padayao, after yesterday's hearing. Looking on was MADD Victim Services Coordinator Gregory Terry.

Man gets 10-year term
in officer’s death

Michael Coulter was drunk when he hit
Dannygriggs Padayao with a pickup truck

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Michael Coulter began serving a 10-year prison term yesterday for killing a police officer with his pickup truck last year while driving drunk.

Yesterday was also his 24th birthday.

Police officer Dannygriggs Padayao, 46, was laying flares on Kamehameha Highway near Kualoa Ranch following a traffic accident April 30, 2001, when the truck Coulter was driving hit him.

Sheriff's deputies took Coulter into custody immediately after Circuit Judge Dan Kochi handed down the sentence.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority will determine how much of the sentence Coulter will have to serve before being eligible for parole.

Coulter's attorney Richard Hoke asked Kochi to sentence his client to probation and argued that Padayao bore some of the responsibility for his own death for not properly securing the scene to warn approaching motorists of an accident ahead.

But Kochi determined there were sufficient warning signs for motorists to slow down. A witness testified yesterday that Coulter's pickup truck was traveling 45 to 50 mph when it struck Padayao. The speed limit in that area is 35 mph.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said it was Coulter's drinking and driving that killed Padayao. He asked Kochi to hand down the maximum 10-year prison term to send a warning to other drunken drivers. Kochi agreed.

"We have had a number of deaths caused by drinking and driving," Kochi said, "not only here on Oahu, but on the Big Island as well as Kauai. A message needs to be sent in these situations."

Kochi also noted that Coulter has a previous drunken-driving conviction and that he continued to drive following Padayao's death despite having his driver's license revoked for refusing a blood alcohol test.

Coulter apologized to Padayao's extended family, who crowded the courtroom after the 18-year police veteran's daughter, hanai daughters, sister, mother and longtime companion took turns expressing their anger and forgiveness.

Coulter, a Michigan native, was visiting relatives in Kahaluu when he struck Padayao with the truck, which he borrowed from his cousin. In July he pleaded guilty to first-degree negligent homicide and failing to remain at the scene of the accident. He told Kochi he was under the influence of alcohol when he struck Padayao.