Hawai'i Legal News

  State v. Borge (HSC March 15, 2023) Background. On November 5, 2019, Maui police officers responded to the Paia Youth and Cultural Center between Baldwin Beach and Paia Bay. They found the complainant had suffered serious injuries after Borge struck him on the head several times with a piece of wood. Borge was arrested. The prosecution went to the grand jury and called Detective Dennis Clifton. Det. Clifton testified he investigated the case and met with Borge after he was arrested. The following exchange took place:   Q.      . . . . Did you notice any injuries to Mr. Borge? A.      No. Q.       None to his head, arms, anyplace? A.       No, sir. Q.       Okay. And you didn’t take any statement from Mr. Borge? A.       We attempted to question him, but he requested to speak to an attorney.   After Det. Clifton...

  State v. Obrero (HSC September 8, 2022) Background. The prosecution filed six complaints against Richard Obrero including murder in the second degree. Two days later, the prosecution presented evidence before the Grand Jury and a no bill was returned. In other words, there was no probable cause to bring the indictment. Hours later, the prosecution went ahead with the preliminary hearing on the same case with the same facts and this time a judge found probable cause in the district court. Obrero pleaded not guilty at the arraignment and years later moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that no indictment was found in violation of HRS § 801-1. The motion was denied. Obrero appealed and then moved to transfer the case to the HSC.   The statutory right to be indicted. Obrero argues that without an indictment, the prosecution violated HRS § 801-1:   No person shall be subject to be tried and sentenced to be punished in any court, for an alleged offense, unless ...

McGrail v. Admin. Dir. of Courts (ICA July 18, 2013) Background. Patrick McGrail was arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. In her police report, HPD Officer Jasmine McGuire wrote that she was in her car driving eastbound on Kalakaua Avenue “in the mauka most lane” when she saw a sedan ahead of her with no tail lights. McGuire wrote that the vehicle was “moving unsmooth” and “made a left turn onto Pau Street without signaling.” McGuire followed the sedan onto Pau Street, where it continued “making unsmooth movements while changing lanes[.]” McGuire wrote that she saw the sedan hit a sidewalk with its passenger side tire, but no damages were reported. Then the sedan “jerk[ed] suddenly away from the curb and turn left onto Ala Wai Boulevard” and straight toward another curb. McGuire then conducted a traffic stop. Officer Marc Cobb-Adams came to the scene. McGuire briefed Cobb-Adams and Cobb-Adams conducted field sobriety maneuvers on McGrail....

State v. Atwood (HSC June 3, 2013) Background. Terrance Atwood was indicted with one count of theft in the first degree. HRS § 708-830.5. The prosecution presented an indictment before the grand jury. Witnesses testified that Atwood entered into a contract to remodel a bathroom in a Kihei home in exchange for $89,394. Atwood went to work. In the middle of the job, the homeowner learned that Atwood was not a licensed contractor, but nonetheless kept him on the job because he had already paid him. However, due to a dispute over the purchasing of certain materials, the homeowner fired Atwood before the job was finished and another contractor finished the job. The grand jury returned a true bill alleging theft in the first degree and an unlicensed activity charge (a misdemeanor). HRS § 436B-27. Atwood moved to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that there was no probable cause to sustain the charge. He argued that the prosecution failed to prove that there was no evidence showin...

State v. Griffin (ICA November 22, 2011) Background. Darnell Griffin was charged with murder in the second degree and sexual assault in the first degree. On September 5, 1999, Evelyn Luka went out to her regular nightspot, the Venus Nightclub on Kapiolani Boulevard. Her husband, Kevin, stayed home. The Lukas agreed that she would be home by midnight. At around midnight, Luka called Kevin and told him that she was staying an hour longer and was going to get a ride home with a friend from Salt Lake. Venus employees remember seeing a woman matching her description there, and recalled that she left at around midnight with an African-American man in a dark green Nissan Pathfinder. Luka never came home. Kevin called Venus several times, but they ignored his call. The next morning, at around 8:00 a.m., a commuter on the H-2 near the Ka Uka Boulevard on-ramp saw something on the side of the road near the on-ramp. The commuter and two off-duty police officers went to the area and found ...