Despite her previously crushed lungs, Lisa Wilson breathed easier yesterday as the man accused of running her over while high on heroin was sentenced to 25 years in prison. But his sentencing had less to do with Wilson’s injuries and
Despite her previously crushed lungs, Lisa Wilson breathed easier yesterday as the man accused of running her over while high on heroin was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
But his sentencing had less to do with Wilson’s injuries and more to do with the events surrounding the June 2005 day when she was torn from the back of a motorcycle and dragged underneath his truck.
Byron Say, 38, of Hanalei, was instead sentenced by Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe to 20 years for first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and an additional five years for possessing drug paraphernalia.
Watanabe ordered him to serve the sentences consecutively, the first of which will be served without the possibility of parole.
Say did get credit for time served, which shaves off roughly six months.
Say, a serial fugitive with a long criminal record, was arrested Feb. 16 after consistently eluding police on several high-speed chases. He had only been out of a federal prison for seven months when he got tangled up with the law again, which his defense said was in large part due to drug addiction.
Wilson was not permitted to give testimony on the impact Say’s drug use had on her life, however, outside the courtroom she said she felt justice was served.
“I can only hope this case serves as an example of how crime and drugs can affect and even destroy so many people’s lives,” Wilson said. “After two years and several visits to court, I finally have some closure, though physically, I am sentenced to daily pain and a drastic reduction to life quality.”
Say wasn’t charged with negligent injury in relation to Wilson because of double jeopardy, however, Prosecuting Attorney Craig DeCosta said the drug-dealing charges had the possibility to yield a more stringent punishment.
Say was arrested in Hanalei in June 2005 for third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia, after police found him with heroin.
While that trial was pending, Say was arrested again in March 2006 in Kapa‘a. Following that arrest, Kaua‘i police officers found an ice pipe in the back of the patrol car where Say had been seated. The officers then obtained a search warrant for the vehicle Say had earlier been riding in and recovered 33.44 grams of methamphetamine, according to Second Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Bridges.
Say pled guilty to the charges earlier this year as part of a plea agreement.
As part of the deal, charges against his sister-in-law,
Aquila Say, for driving one of his get-away cars, were dropped. Aquila Say is serving a 60-day sentence in jail.
Meanwhile, Wilson, who needs food stamps to get by, still deals with the remnants of two collapsed lungs, 12 fractured ribs, an obliterated spleen, multiple fractures in her hips and pelvis, two broken humeri and road rash. She has gone to 12 different doctors to find a solution for her left arm, which has an artificial limb implanted inside. In chronic pain, the only possibility is using a cadaver bone to graft to what remains of her original bone, but she has yet to find a doctor willing.
“We’re basically looking for a miracle,” her friend, Steve Wheeler, said.
In light of what she has endured within the past two years, Wilson said she took offense to the Says’ defense attorneys’ comment that the case had been hyped up in the media.
“In the past I’ve lived a somewhat private life,” she said. “I didn’t choose to have my name dragged throughout the media anymore than I chose to have my body dragged beneath his car.”
