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The Maui News
WAILUKU -- A judge suggested a woman take a lesson from a famous extraterrestrial to reach out for help, as she was sentenced last month for taking a pair of running shoes from another woman's car.
Kayla Johnston, 27, agreed to return with her mother to California to attend a treatment program, as part of one year's probation.
Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo said Johnston was lucky to have support from her mother, who flew to Maui to help Johnston.
"If you need help, E.T. phone home," Loo said, referring to the science fiction movie. "K.J. phone mom."
Before being sentenced Feb. 19, Johnston pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and fourth-degree theft.
She was rummaging through a car in the driveway of a home on Hopena Place in Kahului when the resident woke up and confronted Johnston on Nov. 20, said Deputy Prosecutor Carson Tani. He said Johnston left, walking down the street with the shoes before she was stopped by police.
Deputy Public Defender Danielle Sears said what Johnston did "is consistent with her drug use and becoming homeless."
She had been working as an adult corrections officer at the jail before she "fell into the wrong crowd and started hanging out with the wrong people," Sears said.
She said Johnston could be supervised by the probation department while in California.
Johnston was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and was given credit for more than a month she had spent in jail.
She was ordered to write a letter apologizing to the resident and to stay away from the home.
"Walking down the street is one thing, but walking into people's homes is another," Judge Loo said. "You can't just walk in at your leisure and walk out. This is not 7-Eleven."