Trial begins in The first man to be charged on Oahu with manslaughter while allegedly driving under the influence of drugs says he made a mistake but did not realize his actions would end in tragedy, his attorney said yesterday.
traffic fatality case
The defendant is the first to be
tried on Oahu for manslaughter
in a drug DUI caseBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comDanny Gorman, 38, is accused of driving under the influence of crystal methamphetamine and causing the death of an 11-year-old passenger two years ago .
He went on trial yesterday before Circuit Judge Victoria Marks, charged with man-slaughter in the death of Jasey Delos Reyes, the daughter of his then-new girlfriend.
"He knows he made a mistake by driving in that condition, but he didn't realize this consequence would result from his conduct," said deputy public defender Walter Rodby yesterday during opening statements.
Had Gorman foreseen what was to happen that evening, "for a certainty he would not have done that," Rodby said. He asked that Gorman be convicted of the lesser charge of negligent homicide.
But Deputy Prosecutor Keith Seto said Gorman should have recognized the risks he was taking. The road was slick with rain, and he was weaving between other cars on the road. According to witnesses traveling 55 to 65 mph, Gorman was going so fast that their cars shook and shuddered when he sped by. Tests also confirmed later that Gorman had Valium and crystal methamphetamine in his system.
Gorman, Delos Reyes and her mother, Lavern Carpenter, 37, were heading to Honolulu on the H-2 after a weekend relaxing at the Turtle Bay Hilton on Oahu's North Shore when Gorman lost control of the car just before the Waianae offramp, Seto said. Gorman veered across three lanes and struck a dirt berm. Witnesses said his car then catapulted about 50 feet into the air over the top of the berm, landing on its roof on the shoulder of the Wahiawa-bound lanes. Delos Reyes was ejected from the car and died at the scene.
Rodby said Gorman, a 19-year Air Force veteran and most recently an aircraft mechanic with the Hawaii Air National Guard, had been taking prescribed Valium for a series of back injuries but that the medication was not helping that weekend. "He made the mistake of smoking meth," Rodby said.
The last thing Gorman remembers about that evening driving home is passing Wahiawa and waking up at the crash scene in his car upside down, Rodby said. Gorman had loved Delos Reyes "as his own daughter," he said. Carpenter survived but suffered serious injuries.
If convicted of manslaughter, Gorman faces a 20-year prison term. If convicted of negligent homicide, he faces up to 10 years in prison. The jury-waived trial is expected to last a couple of weeks.