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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:35 p.m., Wednesday, February 18, 2009

'I AM TRULY SORRY FOR MY ACCIDENT'
Drunk driver who killed motorcyclist gets 18-month sentence

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Sarah Whitford, with her attorney Michael Green, told a judge this morning she was sorry for a 2007 accident in which she killed a motorcyclist and that she would trade her life for her victim's if she could. Whitford was sentenced to 18 months in prison and five years probation.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Dorcas Fuaiva makes a tearful statement to the court in the sentencing phase of Sarah Whitford's case. Whitford was sentenced to 18 months in prison and five years of probation for her part in the death of Valaile Fuaiva, Dorcas' husband, in 2007, when she hit Fuaiva's motorcycle while traveling at a high rate of speed and under the influence of alcohol.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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"What is the value of a life?" anguished relatives of man killed by a drunk driver in 2007 repeatedly asked in court this morning.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins answered the question by sentencing Sarah Whitford, 27, to 18 months in prison, five years probation and payment of $7,777.48 in restitution to the widow of victim Valaile Fuaiva Jr.

Deputy Prosecutor Kristine Yoo had asked for the maximum sentence — 10 years in prison — telling Perkins that Whitford's blood alcohol level was almost triple the legal limit and she was driving between 56 and 77 miles per hour in a 25-mph zone.

Whitford smashed into a motorcycle driven by Fuaiva in Haleiwa, killing the decorated Vietnam veteran who was the father of four children and a pastor in the Haleiwa Evangelical Mission.

Defense attorney Michael Green asked Perkins for probation for his pregnant client, noting that she has been "clean and sober" for more than a year and is deeply remorseful for the crime.

Perkins noted that Whitford was convicted of a 2005 drunk driving charge in California in 2005 but said a pre-sentence study indicated she would respond well to a sentence that requires rehabilitation and restitution.

Whitford said, "I am truly sorry for my accident" and said she "wanted so much to trade my life" for Fuaiva's.

"I want to do everything in my power to make things better," she said.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.