A state appeals court has overturned the manslaughter sentence of a Waipahu man found guilty of fatally stabbing his cousin because the prosecutor urged the judge to impose a harsh penalty "to send a message to the Micronesian community."

A state jury found Peter David guilty of manslaughter in the January 2010 stabbing death of his 27-year-old cousin Santhony Albert.

Both men came to Hawaii from Chuuk, the most populous of the four Federated States of Micronesia.

David was facing a murder charge, which carries a mandatory life prison term with the possibility of release on parole.

Manslaughter carries a sentence of either 20 years in prison or 10 years of probation.

At sentencing in 2012, Deputy City Prosecutor Darrell Wong urged Circuit Judge Randal K.O. Lee to impose the 20-year prison term to send a message to the Micronesian community, "mainly the males, who take it upon themselves the idea that they can just drink all they want and not be responsible for what happens after that."

According to trial testimony, both men had been drinking alcohol to celebrate the new year prior to the stabbing.

Albert’s blood-alcohol content was 0.25, more than three times the legal threshold for drunken driving.

Authorities were not able to measure David’s blood-alcohol content because he left the scene before police arrived. He turned himself in the next day.

The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals said Monday that a defendant’s race, ethnicity or national origin cannot be used as justification for the imposition of a harsher penalty.

The court said that it does not believe that Lee based his sentence on Wong’s improper argument. However, the court said that to satisfy the appearance of justice, Lee should have made clear on the record that he rejected Wong’s argument. The court therefore vacated the sentence and sent the case back for resentencing.