‘You shouldn’t be driving’

LIHUE — A Kauai judge told a Kalaheo woman with close to $7,000 in unpaid traffic tickets Thursday that he didn’t know how to keep her off the road.

Louise Henealaka Oclit, 46, has 40 traffic convictions and six prior driving without a license convictions, Fifth Circuit Court Chief Judge Randal Valenciano said before he sentenced her to one year in jail for driving without a license.

“I don’t think she’s a bad person. I just don’t know how to keep her off the road,” Valenciano said. “I’m at a loss. You know Kauai. When you drive, when a police officer sees you on the road, they know already. They recognize you in the car. They see you through the windshield. That’s what I am looking at.”

Valenciano said her fees added up to nearly $7,000.

“You’re not going to get your license back unless that’s resolved,” Valenciano said.

Valenciano stressed Oclit had several contempt of court charges for having failed to appear at court proceedings and disobeying the court.

“The problem is you keep on driving when you shouldn’t be driving. That’s a problem,” Valenciano said. “I understand you’re telling me you learned, but this is your fourth within in five years. I’m not sure what the court can do because you just keep coming back to court.”

Prior sentences for her violations had been progressive and went up from community service to time in jail, Valenciano said.

Oclit apologized “for not coming to court and the disregard to the law.”

She had been incarcerated since November after missing a scheduled court date and returning on a $20,000 bench warrant.

The court sentenced her to one year in jail with credit for time served and added an additional $62 to her fees to be paid after she is released from custody.