Hawai'i Legal News

  State v. Spies (HSC September 16, 2025). Jonathan Spies was stopped by the police as he stepped out of his truck in the Foodland parking lot in Waimea on the Big Island. Sierra Valderrama was in the passenger seat. The officer had him sit in the back of his pickup while backup showed up. When they did, they told Spies they had a warrant to search his person —and nothing else. They did not have a warrant to search the vehicle.   They executed the warrant and had Valderrama get out of the truck. The police found nothing on Spies. Officer Justin Gaspar asked Spies if he could search his truck. Spies did not respond with a “yes” or “no” answer. He said something to the effect of “it’s all in there” or “everything that you guys are looking for is in there.” Officer Gaspar asked him  to clarify what he meant and Spies said that it was in his wallet. Spies did not consent to a search of the truck. The police held him for another three minutes after executing the warrant. T...

  State v. Hoffman (HSC October 17, 2024) Background. Officer Warren Tavares is an officer with the Department of Land and Natural Resources on the leeward side of Kauai. He saw Randall Hoffman dumping green waste in a trailer attached to a truck. Officer Tavares stopped, approached Hoffman, and pointed to a sign that stated dumping was prohibited. Officer Tavares told Hoffman to stop throwing the green waste because it was illegal. Hoffman responded by saying, “Fuck you, I don’t give a shit.”   In an effort to get Hoffman to stop, Officer Tavares told Hoffman that this was unlawful, and he could get cited and arrested for criminal littering. He also said that the State and other agencies worked together, spent more than $100,000 cleaning up the area. He added this was a high crime area with lots of abandoned cars and there had been “drug activity.”   Hoffman responded to that by saying “Fuck you.” Hoffman explained that he was turned away from the Hanapepe Ref...

  State v. James (HSC January 3, 2024) Background. After interviewing a complaining witness, detectives at the Kauai Police Department suspected Dylan James committed sexual assault. The police had the CW contact James to talk about it. The CW tried calling twice and James did not pick up. Then the CW texted him. In the text messages, James admitted to having “rough” sex and texted that “when you were screaming and crawling away from the lifeguard tower . . . couldn[‘]t tell if you were serious[.]” James was indicted with five counts of sexual assault in the first degree.   James filed a motion to suppress his statements in the text messages on the grounds that the police used the CW as an agent and failed to apprise James of his constitutional right to remain silent and his right to counsel. The circuit court, with the Hon. Judge Randal Valenciano presiding, granted the motion. The circuit court found that James was “in custody” for Miranda purposes because probable ca...

  State v. Hewitt (HSC March 15, 2023) Background. Hawai'i County Officer Chandler Nancio and another officer were called to the Kona Community Hospital in the middle of the night to see a possible victim of assault. An unknown man dropped Cyrina Hewitt off at the emergency room. He found Hewitt awake with contusions on her face, her eyes were swollen shut, a laceration was on her ear, and she had a broken breast plate. She was disoriented and “rambling incoherently.” She did not know where she was or why she as in the hospital.   Officer Nancio waited for the nurse to treat her and then asked for her name and birth date. He stayed at her bedside and asked her questions about how she got her injuries. Hewitt at first said she had pink-eye, but then said it was a stye. Then paramedics came by and asked what was going on. The paramedics said that they saw a truck’s taillights sticking out of the bushes on the side of the road.   Sgt. Mekia Rose followed up on the...