An 18-year-old Hilo man who pleaded no contest to an alcohol-related hit-and-run collision last year that injured a moped rider will spend no additional time in jail and will have his conviction erased from the record if he stays out of trouble for four years.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara on Thursday granted Kayin Kekaimalu Wilson a deferred acceptance of his no contest plea for first-degree negligent injury, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
A 30-day jail term also was part of the sentence, but Wilson already served that time.
In return for his plea, prosecutors dropped charges of DUI, inattention to driving and violating the terms of a provisional driver’s license, and reduced a charge of leaving the scene of an accident from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Wilson also will have to make $3,515.59 in restitution to the victim, Leighton AhNee, and do 100 hours of community service. The judge also revoked Wilson’s driver’s license for a year and banned him from using drugs or alcohol during the deferral period.
On June 28, 2015, Wilson was turning from Kalanianaole Avenue into Richardson Ocean Park in Keaukaha when the car he was driving struck the moped ridden by AhNee, breaking the thighbone of the then 43-year-old Hilo man. Wilson drove away and was stopped by police about 4 miles away on Pauahi Street in Hilo.
Although the DUI charge was dropped, prosecutors said Wilson blew a 0.09 on a breathalyzer test administered by police after the collision, slightly higher than the 0.08 blood-alcohol level threshold for legal intoxication.
Wilson’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sherilyn Tavares, told the judge it was “a day that not only changed (Wilson’s) life but severely changed the life of Mr. AhNee.”
Tavares noted Wilson’s “basic immaturity, his impulsiveness, his being afraid and responding in an extremely inappropriate way after accident had occurred.”
“Being 18 years old at the time and partying with his friends out in Keaukaha is what led him here today,” she said. “He may have seemed to, at first, not taken it seriously when his supervised release was revoked. And that caused him to sit in custody for 28 days at (Hawaii Community Correctional Center). I truly believe that the time in custody has changed him.”
The incident Tavares referred to was a court-ordered drug test in which Wilson tested positive for marijuana. She said Wilson is in treatment at Big Island Substance Abuse Council.
Wilson, who has no prior criminal record, told the judge he is “truly sorry.”
“I’d like to apologize for what happened to Leighton AhNee and his family on that night of the accident,” he said. “I never meant to hurt anyone, and I didn’t want anyone to go through what he’s going through.”
Hara lectured Wilson on the dangers of alcohol and drug use.
“In my mind, after the accident, everything comes cascading down by you doing something illegal,” he said. “And what was required of you as an adult and a responsible driver was to stay there and (attend) to Mr. AhNee and make sure the authorities are notified and doing what you need to do under the terms of your driver’s license. You ran like a kid. You ran because that was your immediate reaction.
“Mr. Wilson, your activities … resulted in significant, protracted and lifetime disabilities for Mr. AhNee. … A car is not a toy. When you hit someone with it, it can produce horrendous injuries. That’s a lot of responsibility, and one you should take seriously without being impaired by alcohol or drugs.”
AhNee, who was using a walker, said afterward he might require additional surgery if his injury doesn’t continue to heal. He said his biggest issue is that Wilson left after the collision occurred.
Ah Nee’s wife, Dina Kaneda, said she hoped the sentence would “not be so lenient.”
“Accidents happen, but why did you leave another man there?” she said. “He basically just left him there. That’s our big issue.”
Wilson and his father declined to comment after the hearing.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
