The lack of warning signs and barriers at the end of a Kalaeloa road created a danger that was the underlying cause of a car crash that killed a passenger three years ago, a state judge ruled yesterday in acquitting the driver of negligent-homicide charges.

The same location at the end of Roosevelt Avenue was the site this July of a crash that killed two teenagers.

In the 2003 wreck, John G. Elder, a Navy man at the time, was charged with first-degree negligent homicide after his 1997 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 went off the two-lane road, became airborne and slammed into an embankment. Elder, who has been honorably discharged, was accused of driving drunk when he drove through a chain-link fence at the end of the road.

But Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled that the prosecution failed to prove Elder was drunk and also acquitted him of lesser negligent homicide charges.

Sakamoto ruled that the dangerous condition and not Elder's driving was the "underlying root cause" of the crash.

If convicted of first-degree negligent homicide, Elder would have faced up to 10 years in prison.

Elder said he was "ecstatic" in a telephone interview from his home in a Houston suburb yesterday.

"It's been 3 1/2 years of hell," Elder said. "There was no way for me to tell the road would end at all. It looked like I was coming up to another intersection so I didn't think anything about it."

The case took on heightened interest after another car went off the road July 24 and the father of one of the two teenagers who were killed questioned why barriers and warning signs had not been installed. Relatives of both victims have retained lawyers.

Tonya House, 18, and Leslie Kim, 16, died when the car they were in flew off the end of the road and landed on an embankment. The driver of the car and a third passenger were injured. Both speed and alcohol were factors in the wreck, police have said.

City Deputy Prosecutor Darryl Miyahira, who handled the Elder case, could not be reached for comment.

Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, declined to comment because of pending court cases on the matter.

Sakamoto issued a 16-page ruling following a nonjury trial held earlier this year.

Elder and his friend Nicholas Lopez, 20, who was also in the Navy, were at a barbeque at Lopez's home, with Elder drinking one to three beers on June 21, 2003, according to the judge's ruling.

At about 11:30 p.m., Lopez wanted to go to the store, but Lopez appeared to be drunk and Elder drove, with Lopez providing directions, the judge said.

The prosecution contended Elder was speeding at 78 mph, but the judge found that Elder drove about 45 miles an hour. Sakamoto said the road did not have streetlights when the car crashed through the chain link fence, which had four small diamond-shaped reflector panels.

But the four reflectors were "virtually indistinguishable" from nearby lights on Kalaeloa Boulevard, the judge ruled.

The judge said there were no signs, warnings or other postings along the road to indicate that it would end.

"To the contrary, all road conditions, markings and signs indicated that the road was suitable for vehicular travel and would eventually intersect with Kalaeloa Boulevard," he said.

"Given the nature, design and condition of Roosevelt (Avenue) and the lack of adequate warnings, the defendant could not have been aware that the road would end in a veritable pitfall," the judge said.

Elder's driving did not "deviate from the standard of care a law-abiding person would observe on a road the type of which Roosevelt (Avenue) appeared to be," Sakamoto said.

Although the prosecution contended Elder's blood alcohol content was .09, which was above the legal limit of .08, the prosecution could not introduce that evidence because the blood sample was destroyed.

Elder's lawyer, Arthur Ross, said the Department of Health destroys samples after a year, and no one had notified the department to preserve the blood. Also, the technician who did the test retired and was not available to testify, Ross said.

"I think the decision is correct under the way the case was tried," Ross said.

He said the judge was "very conscientious" and rendered "good judgments" in his ruling.

Ross presented two expert witnesses, one who testified the design of the road was in "gross deviation" from nationally-recognized standards of roadway safety, and another who concluded Elder was driving at 45 mph.

Sakamoto found the two experts to be "persuasive and credible."

Anzai, one of the lawyers for House's family, said the family plans to file a lawsuit and Sakamoto's ruling will help their case.

Derek Nakamura, lawyer for the family of the other victim, Kim, said the father, Lester Kim, is still grieving, but was the target of some criticism after he made remarks following the crash that barriers and signs could have prevented his son's death.

"This kind of vindicates Mr. Kim," Nakamura said.

He said he filed a lawsuit last month in behalf of the Kims against the state, the driver of the car and the driver's father.

Nakamura said Sakamoto's ruling can be cited in the civil case, but they've already retained experts who found the road to be "one of the worst cases of highway design."

In his decision, Sakamoto also said Lopez "would likely have survived" if he had been wearing a seat belt, but was ejected from the car and slammed into the embankment. Elder, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered two breaks and a split in his femur and four broken bones in each foot, but did not suffer significant internal injuries.

Ross said Lopez's family doesn't blame Elder.

The lawyer said Lopez's wife, Amanda, thought Elder was sober enough to drive.

"They didn't think he deserved to be prosecuted," Ross said. "They didn't attribute this accident to him."

Elder is now attending junior college and hopes to become a police officer.

He said he's still haunted by the crash and the death of his good friend. "It's been on my mind every day," he said. "I haven't been able to sleep very well the past three and a half years."

He said it was only the second time he visited the area and the first time he drove on the road.

Elder recalled telling his friend as they got into the car to put on his seat belt.

"He said, 'We're just going to the store; it's not that far,'" he said. "I let it go."

He said drivers should be aware of the area they're driving in or be very careful, and people in vehicles should always wear seat belts. "They actually can save your life," he said.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.