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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:26 p.m., Tuesday, November 18, 2008

TEEN SENTENCED IN FATAL WRECK
Negligent homicide conviction results in 18-month sentence

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Tyler Duarte, 19, listens in court as his lawyer, Don Wilkerson, argues before Judge Frances Wong during a sentencing hearing today.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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In the space of six weeks, teenager Tyler Duarte's sentence for killing two women in a car crash last year went from two years behind bars, down to one year and now is up to 18 months.

Family Court Judge Frances Wong made the latest change this afternoon, sentencing the 19-year-old to a year and a half in prison and five years of probation.

Wong first ruled Oct. 2 that Duarte must serve two consecutive one-year prison sentences for the negligent homicide of two Waimanalo women, Michelle Benevedes, 39, and Raquel Akau, 38.

Three weeks later, Wong quietly changed that sentence to a year in prison, noting that under current law, it was illegal to make Duarte serve consecutive prison terms.

After prosecutors pointed out a different section of the criminal code, Wong today changed Duarte's punishment again, ordering him to serve 18 months of incarceration and five years of probation.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sheila Nitta told Wong that relatives of the victims were "upset" by the original two-year prison sentence and "are even more upset" by the reduced sentence.

Brian Benevedes, father of Michelle Benevedes, suffered a heart attack Oct. 2 after the original sentencing and did not want to be in court today, Nitta said.

Benevedes referred to another criminal case last month in which convicted felon Joseph Calarruda was sentenced to five years in prison for killing a family's pet pig.

"He is very upset that a person who killed a pig got five years" but Duarte only will serve 18 months, Nitta told the judge.

Circumstances in the pig-killing case were substantially different. Calarruda was on parole for kidnaping and firearms convictions when he committed the new offense.

Duarte, who was 17 at the time of the car accident, has no previous criminal record.

Defense lawyer Donald Wilkerson was very irate at Wong's amended sentences, telling her, "You can't change your mind over and over and over again until you get it right."

Wilkerson said he plans to appeal the sentence.

Outside court, Wilkerson said, "This judge doesn't know what she's doing" and called Wong's rulings "outrageous, appalling and disgusting."

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.