Judge denounces ‘ice’ for
role in fatal Maui crashA man gets 10 years for an
accident that killed a teen in 2002Summit to address 'ice' epidemic
WAILUKU >> Maui Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto denounced crystal methamphetamine for causing a car crash that killed a 17-year-old Wailuku girl last year.
"I doubt there would have been some tragedy if we didn't have ice in this community," Raffetto said yesterday. "How many of these tragedies are we going to have before we do something that works? ... It makes me sick to hear about it."
Raffetto sentenced Robert Kahoohanohano, 22, of Kahului, to 10 years in prison for first-degree negligent homicide.
Kahoohanohano was speeding at more than 80 mph in a 30-mph zone when he failed to make it around a turn on Iao Valley Road and struck a telephone pole and a rock wall at 1:59 a.m. on New Year's Day 2002, authorities said.
His friend Kulia Naomi Souza, 17, the front-seat passenger, died at the scene of the crash. A 19-year-old woman in the back seat suffered a broken arm.
Deputy Prosecutor Marie Kosegarten said medical tests showed Kahoohanohano had traces of marijuana and crystal methamphetamine, or ice, in his blood system.
"Anyone could have negotiated the turn in the road -- anyone sober," Kosegarten said.
Kahoohanohano pleaded no contest in April to a number of charges, in return for having a charge of manslaughter reduced to first-degree negligent homicide. Conviction on manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while a conviction for first-degree negligent homicide carries a maximum of 10 years.
Yesterday, Kahoohanohano apologized in Maui Circuit Court to Souza's parents, Doug and Kawila Souza, of Wailuku.
"Living through this is more worse than dying," Kahoohanohano said.
Outside the courtroom, Kawila Souza said, "Hopefully, he takes the right path when he comes out."
In the courtroom, Kosegarten said Kulia Souza, 17, would have graduated from Baldwin High School in the summer of 2002, but her death deprived her father of his closest friend and her mother of a "heart of gold."
"The family has been robbed of a beautiful person," Kose-garten said.
Kosegarten said Kulia Souza also tested positive for ice.
Raffetto also encouraged the Souzas to talk to legislators about the importance of supporting drug deterrence in the community.