Hawai'i Legal News

  State v. Fay (HSC June 17, 2024) Background. Melissa Fay crashed her car into a tree and was charged with traffic offenses in the district court. She pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of an intoxicant, driving without insurance, and the amended charge of criminal property damage in the fourth degree. She also agreed to pay restitution. Kahului Auto Sales, Inc., owned the car and made a restitution claim. The Judiciary’s Monetary Restitution Program recommended that Fay pay $6,504. The parties agreed to the amount and the district court issued an order for restitution in that amount at a rate of $50.00 per month.   The district court with the Hon. Judge Lauren Akitake presiding ordered Fay to return to court in six months if the amount was not paid off. The court told Fay that the hearings would be ongoing until it was paid off. Fay objected, but the hearing was set. Fay appealed. The ICA affirmed. Fay petitioned for further review.   The statu...

  State v. Pickell (HSC December 26, 2023) Background. Michael Pickell was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. He filed a motion to suppress evidence challenging the basis for the traffic stop.   At the hearing, Officer Raul Mehra testified that he was on duty in Kihei one night when he saw Pickell in the left-turn-only lane with his left-turn signal on at the intersection of Pi‘ilani Highway and Ohukai Road. In Pickell’s lane was a left-turn-only sign and a left directional arrow. Next to the traffic light there was a gin that indicated left-turn only. When Pickell’s light turned green, he made a U-turn instead of turning left onto Ohukai Road. The turn required Pickell to drive across double solid yellow lines and a dashed white line. Officer Mehra initiated a traffic stop. Pickell said he was going home but later said he was going to Safeway. He also said he thought he could make a lawful U-turn because he was from California ...

  State v. Mortensen-Young (HSC March 15, 2023) Background. This is a consolidated appeal in which all three defendants have the same operative facts. In 2021, Raven Mortensen-Young, Marlin Tornquist Tucker, Ryan Wood, and Lance Oshima were arrested under suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. They all posted a bond, released from custody, and given a court date. During that time, the prosecution filed complaints and served them at their return dates. The complaints included a line for prosecutors to declare under penalty of law that the “foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.” No warrants or summons were issued.   The defendants moved to the dismiss the complaints on the grounds that the complaint was not supported by the complainant’s signature and a declaration in lieu of an affidavit thereby violating Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 805-1 and the holding in State v. Thompson , 150 Hawai'i 262, 500...

  Barker v. Young (HSC March 6, 2023) Background. Phillip Barker was arrested under suspicion of harassment, a petty misdemeanor. He ultimately pleaded no contest to the amended charge of disorderly conduct, a violation. Approximately two years after the arrest, he applied to the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center (HCJDC) to have his arrest records expunged. The application was denied.   Barker filed a civil complaint against the HCJDC asking the circuit court to order the HCJDC to accept his application because he was eligible for an expungement. Both Barker and the HCJDC filed motions for summary judgment. The circuit court—with the Hon. Bert I. Ayabe presiding—ruled for the HCJDC and granted its motion for summary judgment. Barker appealed. The ICA in a published opinion written by the Hon. Judge Karen T. Nakasone affirmed. The circuit court and the ICA relied on legislative history and concluded that the expungement statute did not cover violations because a viol...

OVERRULED!   State v. Sagapolutele-Silva (HSC June 3, 2022) Background. Tiana Sagapolutele-Silva was driving on the H-1 one night with four other passengers. Officer Franchot Termeteet clocked her going 77 mph in a 45-mph zone and saw her drifting between lanes without signaling. Officer Termeteet testified at a suppression hearing that he knew he had probable cause to stop and arrest the driver for excessive speeding and that she was not free to leave. Officer Termeteet pulled her over.   He smelled booze coming from the vehicle but was uncertain if it was emanating from Sagapolutele-Silva or the passengers. He saw that Sagapolutele-Silva had red, watery, and glassy eyes and when asked to produce a license, she could not. He asked her to step out of the car. She complied. Then he asked if she would participate in the standard field sobriety tests. She would.   Officer Termeteet also testified that before taking the field sobriety tests, officers must ask eight...

  State v. Kaeo (HSC December 29, 2021) Background. Samuel Kaeo went to a base yard in central Maui with other protestors. He linked arms with the protestors and lied down on the road blocking a convoy of trucks bound for the summit of Haleakala. It was a demonstration to protest and temporarily halt construction of a telescope there. About twenty convoy workers were inconvenienced. Police arrested Kaeo and he was charged with disorderly conduct. The district court—the Hon. Judge Blaine Kobayashi—convicted him and sentenced him to pay a fine of $200 and $30 in court fees. Kaeo appealed. The ICAaffirmed, but Judge Karen Nakasone dissented. The HSC accepted the application for certiorari.   The Real Victims of the Disorderly Conduct Offense. A person commits the offense of disorderly conduct when the person, “with the intent to cause physical inconvenience or alarm by a member or members of the public . . ., creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any ac...

  State v. Thompson (HSC December 10, 2021) Background. Corey Thompson was charged by way of complaint with abuse of a family or household member. HRS § 709-906. The complaint was signed by a prosecutor and had no other signatures on it. The prosecution did not attach a declaration or any affidavit to the complaint. The family court clerk issued a penal summons demanding Thompson’s presence in Kona district court.   Thompson moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that there was no affidavit establishing probable cause that he committed the offense and there was no declaration or sworn affidavit pursuant to HRS § 805-1. Without an affidavit or declaration, the prosecution could not arraign him pursuant to Hawai'i Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 5(b)(1). The family court (Hon. Judge Ronald Ibarra) granted the motion and dismissed the case without prejudice. The prosecution appealed. The ICA, in a published opinion, vacated the dismissal order. Thompson petitio...