Kona man's release upsets family

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KAILUA, Hawai'i — A former Kona man convicted Thursday of manslaughter for the drunken driving death of a California visitor was released after posting $20,000 bail, prompting the victim's family to renew complaints about Hawai'i's judicial system.

"This, personally, leaves me feeling that we haven't achieved justice," said Daniel Botkin, longtime companion of Jane O'Brien, 58, who died Feb. 23 while standing on the shoulder of Ali'i Drive, where she was struck by a van driven by Stephen St. Clair.

St. Clair's blood-alcohol content was 0.21 percent, nearly triple the legal standard of 0.08 percent.

A Kona jury found St. Clair, 40, guilty of manslaughter, drunken driving, second-degree reckless endangering, and not having insurance. The manslaughter charge carries a 20-year sentence.

Third Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra scheduled sentencing for Aug. 5, and set bail for St. Clair at $20,000.

Three hours after Thursday's verdict, St. Clair was free.

"I think he should have gone to jail," said Botkin, 64, a biology professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara who said he feels betrayed by the judicial system. "I fear that drunk drivers who kill are still not being taken seriously in Hawai'i," he said.

Deputy Prosecutor Linda Walton, who handled the state's case in the five-day trial, said Botkin and members of O'Brien's family are overreacting to the disposition of the case and " making a mountain out of a molehill."

The victim's friends and relatives had publicly criticized an earlier decision by District Court Judge Joseph Florendo to allow St. Clair, a self-employed carpenter who had been on the island less than a year, to go free on supervised released pending his trial.

Botkin said yesterday he fears that St. Clair, who is from Canada, will flee to that country to avoid going to prison, and that he still poses a danger to others since he has a history of drunken driving that includes four convictions in Alberta, Canada.

Botkin said he was not concerned when St. Clair's attorney, Michael McPherson, won approval from Ibarra for the $20,000 bail. He said he assumed that the restrictions previously imposed on the defendant, including a monitoring bracelet and regular testing for drugs and alcohol, would still be in place. But Botkin later learned that was not the case.

"I felt victimized for a second time," he said.

Walton said she is preparing a court motion requesting that special bail conditions be imposed.