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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Court considers revoking drug abuser's probation


By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Carl Cornelle Jr.

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It's been more than 10 years since Carl Cornelle Jr. killed Arlene Miske in a head-on car collision on Sand Island, and Cornelle is still violating the terms of his probation sentence.

"When is enough going to be enough?" Miske's niece, Genette Simpkins, asked Circuit Judge Steven Alm in court yesterday, asking the judge to sentence Cornelle to 10 years in prison.

Simpkins and other members of Miske's family told Alm they have been to court five times since Cornelle was originally convicted in 2001 for negligent homicide.

Cornelle was under the influence of drugs and alcohol in April 1999 when he drove his truck across Sand Island Parkway and smashed into another truck driven by Miske, a 65-year-old grandmother.

Tests showed that Cornelle had alcohol, cocaine, valium and a chemical associated with marijuana in his system at the time of the crash.

He was sentenced in October 2001 to a year in jail, five years of probation and at least 18 months of inpatient drug treatment. However, this is the latest of a series of probation violations for using illegal drugs.

Maryanne Beatty, Miske's granddaughter, said Cornelle "continues to do illegal drugs" and had applied for a new driver's license after his license was supposed to have been revoked for life.

Miske's niece, Patty Mau, said she works as a driver's license examiner and personally saw Cornelle apply for a new license.

"Can you imagine the horror of that?" she said.

Simpkins told Alm that Cornelle "screws up, and we're back in court. We just want justice."

She said that when Cornelle was originally sentenced, the case "was supposed to set a standard for zero tolerance" in vehicular homicide cases involving drugs or alcohol.

Instead, she said, Cornelle "continues to be treated like the victim. It's frustrating and unfair."

Deputy Public Defender Raymond Fukuhara asked Judge Alm to delay re-sentencing while Cornelle seeks admission to a program capable of treating individuals with both drug and mental health problems.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Peter Marrack asked Alm to proceed with sentencing Cornelle to 10 years in prison.

Cornelle's case was re-assigned to Alm this year, and the judge told Miske's relatives that he was not involved in the earlier court decisions involving the defendant.

Alm set another hearing in the case for June 8.