Hawai'i Legal News

In re PP (ICA April 30, 2014) Background. A minor was charged with terroristic threatening in the second degree. HRS § 707-717(1). He was accused of threatening by words or conduct to cause bodily injury to Jeffrey Kuewa in reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing him. At trial before the family court, Kuewa testified that he is a counselor at a youth shelter in Haleiwa. He caught the minor smoking in his room and imposed and early bed time (EBT) at 7:00 p.m. Later that day, Kuewa discovered the minor had not finished his chores, was screaming, and was in an out-of-bounds area in the shelter. He gave him two more EBTs, but never told the minor. The next day, the minor approached Kuewa in an aggressive manner outside the shelter and glared at him. Kuewa told him the additional EBTs were based on going out of bounds and screaming. The minor told him he thought it was just for one day. Kuewa told him he was missing the point of an EBT and admitted he compared the minor a “little ...

State v. Eberly (ICA March 31, 2014) Background. Bardwell Eberly, Antony Moore, and Chrisitna Whitley were originally charged with forgery in the first degree. HRS § 708-853. Specifically, they were charged with “uttering” a forged instrument “purported to be United States Currency.” Eberly pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of forgery in the third degree. Before sentencing, however, the HSC in an unrelated case affirmed Eberly’s conviction and sentence to prison. The sentence was stayed pending appeal this entire time. Now that it had come down, the trial court in this case told Eberly that he could not be sentenced to probation. Eberly moved to withdraw his guilty plea. He was sentenced to a year in jail. Eberly appealed. The Issue and the two big Procedural Problems. Eberly presented a straight-forward issue on appeal: the forgery statutes plainly and unambiguously do not include counterfeiting U.S. currency. The problem in getting to the issue is that it was never raised b...

State v. Won (ICA March 28, 2014) Background. Yong Shik Won was charged with a single count of operating a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. Won was pulled over in the middle of the night by the police and taken to the police station. Once at the station, the police read to Won a form with numbered paragraphs. Paragraph 1 read that any person operating a vehicle on the roadway “shall be deemed to have given consent to a test or tests” to determine the driver’s blood-alcohol content (BAC). Paragraph 2 read that Won was “not entitled to an attorney before you submit to a test or tests[.]” Paragraph 3 read that Won may refuse to take a test “except as provided in section 291E-21. However, if you refuse, “you shall be subject to up to thirty days imprisonment and/or fine up to $1,000 or the sanctions of 291E-65, if applicable.” Won initialed paragraphs 1 and 3, but not 2 (the bit about the attorney). He told the police that he did not agree with that and would not ...