Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
A state judge on Friday sentenced Samu Gu, the driver of a car involved in a fatal head-on collision with a mo-ped near Makai Pier at Makapuu, to one year in jail for negligent homicide.
Circuit Judge Rom Trader imposed the jail term as a condition of Gu’s five-year probation. He also ordered Gu, 30, of Waimanalo, to spend an additional 30 days in jail for operating a vehicle without a driver’s license.
Gu pleaded no contest in November.
Mo-ped operator Elizar Acorda, 23, of Kahuku died in the July 3, 2011, collision. He and five friends were on an around-the-island mo-ped ride when Gu’s car crossed the centerline of Kalanianaole Highway and crashed into him.
Trader ordered Gu to pay Acorda’s mother $9,265 for her son’s medical and funeral expenses.
Gu told police he was looking at the ocean and telling his 2-year-old son sitting in the back seat behind him to also look at the ocean when he crashed into Acorda’s mo-ped. He also told police he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.
He told court officials preparing a report for Friday’s sentencing that he knows he has a substance abuse problem but believes he can handle it without treatment.
His lawyer Leslie Maloian told Trader that Gu was not impaired and did not turn around to talk to his son before the crash, but looked at the toddler with the vehicle’s rearview mirror. She said Gu has not sought substance abuse treatment because he requires a Samoan interpreter.
Gu was wanted on a $750 bench warrant at the time of the crash. Police had stopped him Sept. 3, 2010, for DUI and driving without a license. Police stopped Gu again on Oct. 6 last year for driving without a license. Both cases are pending.
