Hawai'i Legal News

  State v. Tolentino (HSC June 30, 2026). Henry Tolentino was pulled over for speeding. He was ordered out of the car. An officer drew his gun and ordered him to get on the ground. Tolentino ran away. An officer chased him, caught up to him, and there was a struggle. The officer said that Tolentino kicked and punched him. And then the officer punched Tolentino three but “no more than five” times in the face. As they were fighting a second officer ran into them and all three fell to the ground. They cuffed Tolentino and as they were raising him to his feet he said, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to get a Zip Pac .” The prosecution charged Tolentino with assault of a law enforcement officer in the first degree. Before trial, Tolentino moved as a motion in limine to exclude his statement about the Zip Pac. The defense did not move to suppress and the prosecution did not ask for a voluntariness hearing. The motion in limine was denied. The defense asked for an evidentiary hearing, whi...

  State v. Bunag (HSC April 26, 2026). Alden Bunag was a substitute teacher for thirteen months. In that time, he sexually assaulted a child, recorded it, and shared it in an online chatroom. FBI agents investigated. The victim confirmed three instances of penetration. Agents also found child pornography on his phone and evidence of distribution. Bunag was prosecuted by the United States and ultimately was sentenced to a federal prison for 210 months. The State also prosecuted Bunag. The State indicted Bunag with one count of continuous sexual assault of a minor, promoting child abuse in the first degree, promoting child abuse in the second degree, and promoting child abuse in the third degree. Prosecutors dismissed count 2 and Bunag pleaded guilty to the other three without a plea agreement.   At sentencing, the prosecution orally moved for consecutive terms of imprisonment. The motion was granted. Count one was 20 years and was consecutive with count 2, which is a ten-...