Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill Thursday afternoon found Alexandria Duval not guilty of second degree murder in the death of her twin sister when their vehicle went over a cliff in East Maui in May 2016. 
 
 Duval, 39, had pleaded not guilty to the second degree murder charge stemming from the crash May 29, 2016, outside of Hana that claimed the life of her twin, Anastasia. The vehicle veered off Piilani Highway near Mile Marker 47.5 and fell more than 100 feet to the rocks below. 
 
 Alexandria Duval, the driver, survived; her sister, Anastasia, was thrown into the back seat and was killed. 
 
 Prosecutors tried to make the case that the defendant pressed the accelerator and without braking drove them off the cliff. The defense argued that she lost control of the vehicle and did not intentionally cause the crash. Witnesses described the two women fighting in the SUV with some hair pulling prior to the crash. 
 
 Duval requested a bench trial, which lasted four days this week. Final arguments were made Thursday and the verdict rendered at about 4 p.m. 
 
 In reading his verdict, Cahill basically ruled that the cause of Anastasia Duval’s death was her continuing to fight her sister, which caused Alexandria to lose control of vehicle and go over the cliff. 
 
 Duval left the courtroom without speaking to reporters. Her attorney, Birney Bervar, said: “She’s very relieved.” 
 
 “It’s been an extremely emotional ordeal for her,” he said after the verdict was read. “You can’t imagine losing your twin sister in that kind of catastrophic, tragic accident, then being charged with causing the death of your sister, which she didn’t. She’s extremely relieved. 
 
 “The judge made the correct verdict in this case.” 

 FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018 file photo, Alexandria Duval listens to testimony during her murder trial in Wailuku, Hawaii. Duval, who was accused of deliberately driving off a Hawaii cliff... (Associated Press) 
 
 HONOLULU (AP) — A woman accused of deliberately driving off a Hawaii cliff and killing her identical twin sister was acquitted of murder Thursday. 
 
 Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill found Alexandria Duval not guilty after a trial that started Monday. Duval opted to have a judge instead of a jury decide the case. 
 
 Authorities described the 2016 crash as a hair-pulling fight over the steering wheel. The sisters were seen arguing on the narrow, winding Hana Highway on the island of Maui before their SUV plunged 200 feet over a cliff. 
 
 The crash was a tragic accident, Alexandria Duval's defense attorney, Birney Bervar said in his opening statement. 
 
 Authorities said Alexandria was behind the wheel of a Ford Explorer when witnesses saw the sisters arguing on the perilously narrow, twisting route along a scenic stretch of coastline. A witness cleaning a family gravesite on the highway shoulder told police that he heard a woman screaming in the vehicle and that the passenger was pulling the driver's hair and the steering wheel. 
 
 Anastasia Duval was in the passenger seat and was killed, and her sister Alexandria Duval was arrested. A judge later ordered Alexandria Duval released after finding no probable cause for a murder charge. She traveled to upstate New York and was arrested months later in Albany after a grand jury indicted her. 
 
 Witnesses testified seeing the women arguing on the narrow highway. Duval did not testify. 
 
 "I'm disappointed," Maui County Prosecuting Attorney J.D. Kim said after the verdict. "The facts clearly show it was at least reckless behavior." 
 
 Duval left the courtroom without commenting, The Maui News reported. 
 
 "It's been an extremely emotional ordeal for her," Bervar told the newspaper. "You can't imagine losing your twin sister in that kind of catastrophic, tragic accident, then being charged with causing the death of your sister, which she didn't. She's extremely relieved." 
 
 Duval is going to take some time to figure out what to do next, Bervar told The Associated Press. 
 
 The sisters, born Alison and Ann Dadow in the Utica, New York, area, operated popular yoga studios in Florida before they changed their names. They moved to Hawaii in 2015 from Utah.
– A woman accused of deliberately driving off a Hawaii cliff and killing her identical twin sister was acquitted of murder Thursday. Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill found Alexandria Duval not guilty after a trial that started Monday, the AP reports. The sisters were seen arguing on the narrow, winding Hana Highway on the island of Maui before their SUV plunged 200 feet over a cliff. The crash was a tragic accident, Alexandria Duval's defense attorney, Birney Bervar, said in his opening statement. Authorities said Alexandria was behind the wheel of a Ford Explorer when witnesses saw the sisters arguing on the perilously narrow, twisting route along a scenic stretch of coastline. A witness cleaning a family gravesite on the highway shoulder told police that he heard a woman screaming in the vehicle and that the passenger was pulling the driver's hair and the steering wheel. Anastasia Duval was in the passenger seat and was killed; her sister was arrested. A judge later ordered Alexandria Duval released after finding no probable cause for a murder charge. She traveled to New York state and was arrested months later in Albany after a grand jury indicted her. Duval didn't testify. "I'm disappointed," Maui County Prosecuting Attorney JD Kim said after the verdict. "The facts clearly show it was at least reckless behavior." "You can't imagine losing your twin sister in that kind of catastrophic, tragic accident, then being charged with causing the death of your sister, which she didn't," Bervar told the Maui News. "She's extremely relieved." The sisters, born Alison and Ann Dadow near Utica, NY, operated popular yoga studios in Florida before they changed their names. They moved to Hawaii in 2015 from Utah.