A 72-year-old Kailua woman avoided prison time Tuesday, but was sentenced to four years’ probation for running over and killing a pedestrian in a crosswalk in Makiki.
Circuit Judge Colette Garibaldi also suspended Julianne Nowell’s license for the duration of her probation, ordered her to pay a $500 fine and perform 500 hours of community service, a Honolulu prosecutor’s office spokesman said.
In August, Nowell pleaded no contest to second-degree negligent homicide for causing the death of 68-year-old Edna Funayama on Jan. 3.
Her attorney, Howard Luke, filed a motion for a deferred acceptance of a no contest plea, meaning the offense would have been wiped from her criminal record if she stayed out of trouble for a certain amount of time.
Garibaldi denied Nowell a deferral, but spared her any prison time, the prosecutor’s spokesman said.
Funayama’s longtime boyfriend, Hal Beagle, said he was surprised the judge wasn’t more lenient at Nowell’s sentencing.
"It’s a relief now for me," he said.
Police said Nowell was turning left from Makiki Street onto Wilder Avenue when she struck Funayama on a clear, sunny day.
Witnesses said Nowell didn’t slow down or brake after the initial collision threw Funayama onto the hood of her SUV and after Funayama fell off and Nowell’s front and rear wheels ran over her. Nowell stopped 100 feet from the crash, Deputy Prosecutor Kurt Nakamatsu said in court documents.
A police report said Nowell had a 11⁄2-year-old boy with her in the vehicle.
Nowell had faced up to five years in prison for the felony. She was charged under a 2012 law that increased penalties for causing the death of a "vulnerable user" of a roadway, such as a pedestrian.
