Hawai'i Legal News

  State v. Yuen (HSC August 20, 2024) Background. Charles Tung Ming Yuen was charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicant. The charge arose from a motor vehicle collision that occurred approximately fifty feet from the O’Malley Gate just outside of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu. Two vehicles were approaching the gate when one of the vehicle rear-ended the one in front of it. Military police came onto the scene and identified Yuen as the driver of the vehicle that cause the collision. They seized him and subjected him to standardized field sobriety tests. Then they held him and called the Honolulu Police Department to report a “possible DUI outside the gate.”   The collision, seizure of Yuen, and their investigation occurred outside of the base within the City and County of Honolulu. The police showed up and took over. They conducted their investigation, saw signs of intoxication, and arrested Yuen.   Yuen’s lawyer, Barry Sooalo, di...

  State v. Lee (HSC February 9, 2021) Background. Honolulu Police Department officers responded to a “suicidal male call” at an ‘Aiea residence. The family let the officers into the home and directed them to a closed bedroom door. Family members said that Joshua Lee was in his room and he had samurai swords in there. They made contact with Lee through the closed door. The did not allow the officers to open the door, but told them he was okay and asked them to leave. The Sgt. Michael Cobb who responded to the call started talking to Lee. He told him that he “needed to grow up” and “be a man.” Lee asked if the officers had a warrant. Sgt. Cobb told him “we don’t need a warrant, dumbass.” Despite Lee’s request that they leave him alone, the officers needed to check if there was a risk that he would harm himself. The officers picked the lock and opened it to at the very least see Lee.   When they did, the door was obstructed. At some point, Lee’s family members asked the po...

State v. Naeole (HSC June 22, 2020) Background. Dawn Naeole lived on Oahu. One morning at around 6:00 a.m., sixteen police officers surrounded her home wearing militaristic uniforms, shields, body armor, and helmets. They were armed with an M4 rifle and a sidearm, a Glock 21. They had a warrant to search Naeole’s house. Officer Stephen Roe later testified at a motion to suppress hearing that he approached the front door and initiated the “knock and announce” procedure—knock three times and make an announcement. Officer Roe testified that it went like this: (Knocks) Police. We have a search warrant. Open the door now. (Knocks.). Police We have a search warrant. Open the door now. (Knocks.) Police. We have a search warrant. Open the door now. There was no response after the first two knock-and-announce procedures. After the third, he heard a woman’s voice from inside the house that seemed to be directed at them, but he could not make out what was being said. He did the fourth and ...

State v. Rodrigues (HSC December 13, 2019) Background. Big Island police officers submitted an affidavit for a search warrant to the district court. Officer Marco Segobia was the affiant. Officer Segobia averred that he received information from a confidential informant that Rodney Rodrigues, Jr. had sold crystal methamphetamine multiple times. Officer Segobia stated that he directed the CI to arrange a drug deal with Rodrigues and claimed that the CI performed a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Rodrigues’s residence at the corner of Konalani Street and Puuhalo Street in Kailua-Kona. The residence was described as a two-story light colored wood siding structure with a white colored roof. Officer Segobia maintained surveillance from outside as the CI went into he residence and came out with crystal methamphetamine. The affidavit requested a search of the following space: A residence located within the County and State of Hawai‘i and within the District of Kona. Your a...

State v. Quiday (HSC November 21, 2017) Background. Honolulu Police Department officers got an anonymous tip that there was marijuana growing on a residential property in Waipahu. The officers conducted “aerial reconnaissance” of the suspected grow site in a helicopter at a height of 420 feet (no joke) and spotted 20-25 plants in the open air of the property along a wall. The officers drove by the house to see if the plants were visible from the street. They weren’t. The police checked the residence to see if it was a grow site for medical marijuana; it wasn’t. The officers did two more flyovers and saw the same thing: plants in pots along the wall of the property. Based on these observations, the officers applied for and got a search warrant of the property. The day before the warrant was to be executed, police drove by the property and saw a man watering something along the wall. The next day the warrant was executed and police arrested Benjamin Quiday for possession of the ...

State v. Curtis (HSC May 15, 2017) Background. A FedEx employee in Honolulu opened a package suspected to contain narcotics. The package was addressed to a “Jennifer Robertson” at an address on Kauai. FedEx notified the DEA, which notified the Kauai Police Department. KPD determined that the package contained eight pounds of marijuana. The police, with court approval, installed a tracking device in the package that would inform them where the package was located and when it would be opened. The police also applied for an anticipatory search warrant to search the premises. In the application for search warrant, the police stated that it planned to conduct a controlled delivery of the package. Once it was determined where the package would be sent, received by persons wanting it, and opened, the police sought authorization to search within 48 hours of delivery of the package that premises—wherever that may be. The anticipatory search warrant was issued. The warrant authorized t...

State v. Phillips (HSC September 30, 2016) Background. Lincoln Phillips was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree. Phillips called the police to his home early one morning and reported that he came home to find his wife suffering from injuries and trauma to her head. Phillips told the police that he did not know the identity of the person who did it. Firefighters and police found Phillips frantic and sweating. He was pacing inside and outside the house by the driveway. As the police investigated, they discovered a hammer on top of a cooler in the garage. The hammer might have had a spot of blood on it. At one point an officer blew his nose and threw a napkin away in the trashcan within Phillips’ home. He opened the trashcan and saw clothes rolled up in it. He did nothing and covered it back up. Phillips was taken to the station to give a statement to a detective. Police officers later obtained a search warrant and searched the home and Phillips’ car. They took the ham...

State v. Alvarez (HSC June 30, 2016) Background. Elujino Alvarez was driving a vehicle and stopped by the police because the police saw that one of the passengers was not wearing a seatbelt. The officers recognized Alvarez from prior unrelated drug investigations and called another officer to come to the scene with his police dog to conduct a canine screening on the car. They waited for the dog and the dog alerted to the presence of narcotics. Alvarez was arrested. The police obtained a search warrant for the car and found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Alvarez moved to suppress the evidence. The motion was denied. Alvarez entered a conditional plea allowing to appeal the denial of the motion. The ICA affirmed the denial. Alvarez applied for a writ of cert. Traffic Stops, the Fourth Amendment, and You. “A stop of a vehicle for an investigatory purpose constitutes a seizure within the meaning of the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures....

State v. Ramos-Saunders (ICA April 23, 2015) Background. Koalaukani Ramos-Saunders was indicted with commercial promotion of marijuana in the first degree and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Ramos-Saunders moved to suppress all evidence resulting from a warrantless search of the residence. One morning, the Honolulu Police Department received a “dropped 911 call” from a number registered to Walter Rosskopf listed at a housing unit—Unit B at an address off of Kamehameha Highway. Two officers went to the address and arrived to Unit B. There, they talked to a woman named Paula Burgess. She told them that he used to live in Unit B, but he moved to Unit A. She added that he had prostate cancer. The Units are two stand-alone residences separated by about 750 feet. The officers moved way from Unit B and went to Unit A. They found no one in Unit A. As they walked around the residence the officers thought they saw the barrel of a firearm with a silencer. The residence was also in...