While California takes every DUI seriously, they begin to impose more severe penalties for drivers who routinely drive under the influence. A first-time DUI may only cost the driver a couple of days in jail and a few years of probation. A second DUI carries a possible penalty of up to one year in jail and license suspension for up to two years. At a second DUI, drivers are required to install an ignition interlock.
The penalties only increase so long as the DUIs occur within a ten-year period. However, it is important to know that if the driver has had DUIs in another state, those DUIs can count towards stiffer penalties as well. If the DUI laws in the other state are similar to those of California, they can be considered.
The Maui News reports that a man has been sentenced to five years in prison for a fatal crash.
37-year-old Randall Hayes had a history of DUI convictions that occurred in both Hawaii and California prior to the fatal crash.
The crash occurred shortly before 3:00 p.m. on Honoapiilani Highway. That day, Hayes had been drinking at a local bar on Lower Main Street in Wailuku. Minutes after leaving, he collided with another vehicle.
Hayes fled the scene of that crash and continued on to Lahaina when his truck went off-road and hit a guardrail, drifted into an oncoming lane, and struck another vehicle.
Inside that vehicle was the driver, Remalyn Rivera, and her father, Manuel Rivera. They were both taken to a hospital where Manuel later succumbed to his injuries.
Hayes recently pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree negligent homicide as well as second-degree negligent injury. He had a previous DUI conviction in California in 2005 which he fled to Hawaii to avoid serving his sentence.
