Hawai'i Legal News

  State v. Skapinok (HSC June 3, 2022) Background. Leah Skapinok was charged with driving under the influence. One summer’s night, Officer William Meredith saw a white Toyota Tacoma speeding down King Street. He followed it onto Ward Avenue and saw it weaving before getting onto the H-1. Once on the freeway, he saw it cross the solid white line and move across three lanes without signaling. Officer Meredith pulled the truck over. Skapinok was the driver. Officer Meredith smelled booze on her and saw she had red, watery, bloodshot eyes.   Officer Meredith believed he had enough to arrest her for reckless driving, but he didn’t. He instead asked if she was willing to participate in the field sobriety tests. She was argumentative at first but gave in when Officer Meredith told her that if she did not, she would be arrested. Corporal Ernest Chang showed up and talked to Officer Meredith. Corp. Chang agreed that there was probable cause to arrest for reckless driving. ...

  State v. Manion (HSC June 3, 2022) Background. Daniel Manion was charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicant. He moved to suppress evidence of the field sobriety tests performed outside his vehicle in the middle of the night. A resident in Hawai'i Kai called the police after hearing a car crash. Police arrived and found Manion sitting in a crashed car. Officer Corey Morgan asked Manion if he was injured. Manion said he was not. He was just having a rough day. He also said he drank a “40” at Sandy’s and was on his way home. He said he crashed his car because he was texting. Officer Morgan smelled booze and saw that Manion had red, watery eyes. Officer Morgan believed he had probable cause at this point to arrest Manion for drunk driving.   Officer Morgan asked Manion to get out of the car. Manion complied. He asked if he was willing to submit to standard field sobriety tests. He said he would. Then Officer Morgan asked him the medical rule-out questions—q...

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...