Judge flubs homicide sentencing

Tyler Nainoa Duarte's prison sentence for negligent homicide has gone from two years to one year to 18 months—all in just a month and a half.

Family Court Senior Judge Frances Wong sentenced Duarte last month to five years' probation for two counts of first-degree negligent homicide. As a condition of probation, she ordered Duarte, 19, to serve one year in jail for each of the two people he killed. And she ordered him to serve the one-year jail terms back-to-back.

Wong later realized that she cannot stack the one-year jail terms so she amended her sentence to have them run at the same time.

The state then asked her to reconsider her corrected sentence and to order Duarte to serve 18 months.

Wong admitted yesterday that the original sentence she imposed was illegal. But she felt Duarte should serve more than one year in jail.

When she amended the original sentence, she said she forgot that the state Legislature changed state sentencing laws in 2006 to increase the amount of jail time a judge can impose along with probation to 18 months from one year for first-degree negligent homicide and other class B felonies.

So she changed Duarte's prison term again yesterday to 18 months.

Duarte's lawyer, Donald Wilkerson, told Wong he will appeal her sentence.

“;Because I'm confident the Supreme Court will agree with me and tell you that you can't change your mind over and over and over again until you get it right,”; Wilkerson said.

Duarte pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of Michelle A. Benavedes, 39, and her cousin Racquel L. Akau, 38, when he crashed a sport utility vehicle into the side of the women's car in Waimanalo Jan. 20 last year.

Man re-sentenced in attack case

KAILUA-KONA » A Big Island man involved in an attack on campers at Hookena Beach Park has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Drosstain Pua had received probation after pleading guilty in September to first-degree terroristic threatening, third-degree assault and harassment.

But the 19-year-old Pua failed to comply with conditions imposed by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Strance, and she re-sentenced him Monday. When Strance asked Pua why he didn't follow her orders, he replied: “;Slacking. I just never do what I'm supposed to do.”;

Three of Pua's co-defendants—Isaac Alani, Wyatt Alani, Thomas Kaupu—have also pleaded guilty. Another defendant, Richard Kaleohano Jr., has yet to enter pleas.

The attack occurred Jan. 27, 2007.