Updated at 11:28 a.m., Friday, November 1, 2002
Arakawa must wait 18 years for parole
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Former Honolulu police officer Clyde Arakawa will have to serve at least 18 years of his 20-year prison sentence before being eligible for parole, for the 2000 traffic death of Dana Ambrose. The minimum sentence was handed down yesterday by the Hawai‘i Paroling Authority. Arakawa, 50, was convicted of manslaughter in February based on the prosecution’s contention that he was drunk when he crashed his 1993 Ford Thunderbird into Ambrose’s car. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. At a hearing last week, Ambrose’s parents asked the paroling authority to require Arakawa to serve the maximum 20-year term. City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, who prosecuted the case, asked the board to require that Arakawa serve at least 18 years. Carlisle said Arakawa should receive a term longer than the minimum sentence of 15 years set for James Steinseifer, who killed three people in a drunken driving case in January 1997. “I’m very pleased that the parole board basically adhered to the recommendation that I gave and that they came back so quickly,” Carlisle said. Arakawa’s attorney, Myles Breiner, called the minimum sentence “a miscarriage of justice” and “a publicity stunt.” “It is a political decision in a political year and it’s politically motivated,” Breiner said. “It is an effort by the prosecutor’s office to make Clyde Arakawa a whipping boy.” Breiner said the more appropriate minumum would be five years after which the prosecutor’s office and the Ambrose family could argue for additional time. Arakawa is currently housed in the high security unit at Halawa Community Correctional Center and because he is a former police officer, his life is in jeopardy, Breiner said. A long prison setence exacerbates the situation, he said. “If he stays in Halawa, the chances of him surviving 18 years is dismally poor,” Breiner said. “He will end up either dead or injured.” Breiner said Arakawa should be housed at a Mainland prison. Carlisle said he called Ambrose’s parents, Rod and Susan Ambrose, at their California home as soon as he heard of the paroling authority’s decision. He said the Ambroses were “very pleased” with the board’s quick decision. “There’s a lot of stress on somebody who’s a survivor like this,” Carlisle said. “The longer the court proceedings and the longer it takes for the decision like this to be made, it makes it harder on them. The fact that this came down quickly I think was helpful for the family.” He added that Arakawa, who plans to appeal his conviction, can ask for a reduction in the minimum sentence at a later date. Arakawa was found guilty of manslaughter for causing the fatal crash at Pali Highway and School Street in October 2000. Ambrose, 19, was a student at the University of Hawai‘i. At last week’s paroling authority hearing, Arakawa apologized to the Ambroses and admitted for the first time that he was an alcoholic.
