Escaped inmate tells
of thirst for freedomJudge cites attitude in sentencing
One of three inmates who escaped from Halawa prison in April -- triggering a massive six-day manhunt -- said his brief taste of freedom was worth it, but he will not try it again.
"Anything for freedom is worth it, but the only way I will be truly free again is when I have done time," wrote David Scribner in a letter to Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima in May.
The letter was never mailed to Gima because it was intercepted by Warden Clayton Frank and turned over to Scribner's attorney. It was made public yesterday as part of the court record in Scribner's sentencing.
Scribner said they planned their escape a month before "just by being observant and having a general knowledge of construction." The escape was not hard and went according to plan, he said.
On the night of April 4, they broke out through a metal access door in their cell that opened to up to water pipes. Earlier, they had chipped away at the mortar surrounding the door until they were able to pull it out. Their cell was the only one with that door because it is next to the showers, he said.
They removed the air ducts, revealing a large hole in the floor that enabled them to get down to the ground floor, he said. A bolt securing double doors that led to the outside was easily removed. After that, the only obstacle between them and freedom was the prison gate.
Batalona almost did not make it out because the hole in the wall was too small.
"But we refused to leave him behind and where (sic) finally able to make him fit," Scribner said.
He said they walked out onto the road and were seen by many people.
"We just acted like we belong there and no one gave us any problems."
Police say the trio took two cell phones from two men standing by their car in the Aloha Stadium area.
They also took the car and drove to Windward Oahu where they abandoned their ride in a parking lot at the Hauula Kai Shopping Center.
They survived on fruit, beef jerky, granola and rainwater. The food had been taken from the prison store and stashed in pockets that Scribner had sewn into his prison uniform before the escape. He said they had no help from anyone.
Contrary to police reports, they were not happy to be captured, he said.
"When I was caught, the only thing going through my mind was that I hope the other two make it," Scribner said. "I can honestly say that I would never have done anything to endanger that freedom again if I had stayed free."
He said he does not believe that what they did was so bad.
"Three men that had been living in a cage made a break for their freedom and even though they were hunted, they refrained from all violence," he wrote. "Is it so wrong to want to be free?"
He said he wants to become a writer, perhaps take up journalism, but is hampered by a lack of supplies and schooling.
Deputy Prosecutor Jean Ireton said police found at the trio's campsite in Hauula Valley at least 25 chapters of a science-fiction story Scribner had penned on how to escape from prison. Scribner said he was going to publish it, but it is now being held as evidence.
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Judge cites attitude in
sentencing for escapee
They said escaping from Halawa Correctional Facility could not be done.
So David Scribner had to prove them wrong.
"I had to step up to a challenge," Scribner, 20, wrote in a letter to the Star-Bulletin that was not delivered. Scribner attained the notorious distinction of being one of three men who escaped from the Halawa Community Correctional Center in April. They eluded searchers for nearly a week before being captured in Windward Oahu.
Circuit Judge Marie Milks chastised Scribner's attitude when sentencing him yesterday to serve concurrent extended terms of 10 years for the escape and 20 years for robbery. (During their escape, Scribner and fellow escapee Albert Batalona allegedly robbed two men near Aloha Stadium of their cellular phones and a car.) Milks said the extended terms were necessary to protect the public.
"You have no respect for the law. You will commit crimes for entertainment and because it challenges you," she said. "Crime should never be a challenge for anybody."
Milks said Scribner must serve a minimum of six years and eight months for the Halawa escape. He will begin serving that term after he completes at least the minimum of four years and eight months for a previous escape from Oahu Community Correctional Center in May 2002 and for drug convictions.
Deputy public defender Adrienne Sanders called the sentence "extremely harsh" given Scribner's age. "Having to sit there 11 years and four months without anything to do is extremely hard," she said. "He'll be almost 32 before he can apply for parole."
Deputy Prosecutor Jean Ireton had argued for extended sentences, saying it was Scribner's own attitude that put him back in prison.
Batalona and the third escapee, Warren Elicker, pleaded not guilty to the escape charge and are scheduled for trial in October.
