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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, October 7, 2008

H-1 driver's second DUI adds 19 years to manslaughter term

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Andra L. Kimp

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A man who originally got one year in prison for a DUI manslaughter conviction was sent back to prison yesterday with a revised sentence of 20 years after being caught driving drunk last year on the Mainland.

The maximum 20-year sentence was imposed just four days after another driver received two years in prison for killing two people during a drunken ride — sparking outrage for what many in the community saw as a lenient sentence.

Yesterday's 20-year sentence was imposed on Andra L. Kimp, who pleaded no contest in 2006 to manslaughter. The prosecution said that in 2003, Kimp had been drunk while racing on H-1 Freeway, and the resulting crash killed Scott Ricks, a passenger in Kimp's car and a close friend.

Kimp, then a Schofield Barracks soldier, was originally sentenced by Circuit Judge Richard Pollack to one year in prison and 10 years' probation.

Last year, Kimp was convicted of another drunken-driving offense in Chesapeake, Va., and was extradited back to Hawai'i after serving a one-year jail sentence for the Virginia crime.

Deputy Prosecutor Kory Young yesterday told Pollack that Kimp had violated his Hawai'i probation by driving a car — his license was revoked for three years in 2006 — and by drinking alcohol.

According to Virginia police reports about the Aug. 19, 2007, DUI case, a preliminary breath test showed Kimp's blood-alcohol level to be .31 — nearly four times the legal limit in Hawai'i and Virginia.

He was stopped at 3:56 a.m. after a police officer observed him driving erratically. At one point, his vehicle crossed the center line of the road, according to police.

He failed three field sobriety tests, and the arresting officer reported that Kimp was "swaying" as he was standing and that his speech was "extremely slurred."

'ONE MORE CHANCE'

Defense attorney Edward Harada said Kimp had met with old friends who he had not seen for years and had made arrangements to stay overnight with a friend.

But the friend and his wife "got into a loud argument" so Kimp decided to leave, Harada said.

Harada asked for a prison term of two years, saying Kimp has been working more than 60 hours a week at two jobs in Virginia and had been trouble-free before the 2007 drunken-driving case.

He asked Pollack to recognize Kimp's "very young age, his service to his country and his efforts to address his substance-abuse problem."

Kimp told Pollack he believed that his license had been restored in Virginia.

"If I could, I would like to have one more chance to get out of here and to be a good citizen," Kimp told the judge.

JUDGE: REHAB WASTED

But prosecutor Young said Kimp had "wasted" his earlier opportunity at rehabilitation "by essentially getting wasted, getting drunk and driving again."

In the manslaughter case here, Young said, Kimp's blood-alcohol level was measured at .21, nearly triple the legal limit of .08. Witnesses and an accident reconstruction specialist estimated that Kimp was driving between 88 and 92 mph, and was racing another car before the collision that killed his passenger, according to Young.

Now Kimp "has shown that his actions will not stop," Young told the judge.

Pollack threw the book at Kimp. "You have not responded favorably" to probation, Pollack told the defendant.

Pollack said Kimp put himself and others at risk by his behavior and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

EXTRADITED TO ISLES

Young said outside court that after Kimp left the Army and served his year of prison here, he moved to the East Coast, and probation officers in Virginia agreed to supervise Kimp for the rest of his 10-year probation.

When Kimp violated probation with the new drunken-driving conviction, the decision was made to extradite Kimp back to the Islands and seek the maximum 20-year term for manslaughter, Young said.

"He's our responsibility if he continues to drive while intoxicated," Young said.

He said it was "not unusual" for the state to seek extradition of a probation violator if the original case involved a death.

SEPARATE CASE

On Thursday, a teenager who killed two Waimanalo women in a high-speed collision last year was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of probation by Circuit Judge Frances Wong.

Tyler N. Duarte, now 19, was under the influence of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol when he drove his family's Ford Explorer 80 to 90 mph along Kalaniana'ole Highway the evening of Jan. 20, 2007. He lost control of the vehicle in Waimanalo and smashed into a small Honda carrying Michelle Benevedes, 39, and Raquel Akau, 38. He then fled the scene.

The prosecutor had asked for a 10-year sentence, and families of the victims said they were looking for a longer sentence than what Duarte received.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.