Drunken driver who
killed HPD cop seeks
early release

Authority chairman resigns

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

The man convicted of killing a Honolulu policeman while driving drunk has asked the parole board to release him from prison after three years, but the officer's family said the man should serve a full 10 years without parole.

Michael Coulter told the Hawaii Paroling Authority yesterday: "I'm not a bad person. I've made mistakes, big mistakes. And there's nothing I can say to take it back. I wish I could. All I can hope to do is change, become better, learn from this."

Coulter, 24, began serving his 10-year term Sept. 30, when he was sentenced for negligent homicide and failing to remain at the scene of the accident that killed officer Dannygriggs Padayao.

Padayao was securing the scene of an earlier accident near Kualoa Ranch on April 30, 2001, when Coulter's speeding pickup truck struck him and threw him into the front of an oncoming van. Padayao died at Castle Medical Center. Coulter fled on foot, but was later found a short distance away at his cousin's home.

"I plead with you to have him serve the full 10 years without parole," Padayao's sister, Gigi Macion, told the board.

Coulter said when he is released from prison he plans to speak to kids about his experiences and the dangers of drinking and driving.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle asked the parole board to set Coulter's mandatory prison term at seven years.

"This guy was given chance after chance after chance to realize he was a menace when he was in a car," Carlisle said. "His apologies are absolutely hollow at this point. It's too little, too late."

Carlisle pointed out that Coulter caused two previous accidents in Michigan and was convicted of driving under the influence for one of them in which his blood alcohol level was 0.17.

In Hawaii, motorists are considered legally drunk if their blood alcohol level is 0.08 percent.

When Coulter returned to the mainland following the accident that killed Padayao, he was caught driving with a suspended license and for disobeying a traffic signal.

Padayao's hanai daughter, Claire Borengasser, said to Coulter, "I hope you get 10 out of 10."

The parole board is expected to announce its decision later this month.