Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court extended an August 27, 2020 order for first circuit criminal matters, which was extended pursuant to a September 11, 2020 order, until November 16, 2020, determining that changing conditions wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic required flexibility and vigilance regarding the need to protect the health and safety of court users and Judiciary personnel.In July 2020, there was a surge of COVID-19 cases in Hawaii, included cases in community correctional centers and facilities, particularly at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center. As a result, the time requirements for preliminary hearings under Haw. R. Pen. P. (HRPP) 5(c)(3) was impacted. In August 2020, the Supreme Court entered an order providing that the first circuit may temporarily extend the time requirements for preliminary hearings no longer than reasonably necessary to protect public health and safety. In September, the order was extended. Because the transports of custody defendants from all O'ahu correctional facilities remained suspended and the exponential number of citations issued for Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 127A violations remained high, the Supreme Court extended the August order for first circuit criminal matters until November 16, 2020. View "In re Judiciary’s Response to COVID-19 Outbreak" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the district court's judgment finding Defendant guilty of resisting arrest, holding that Defendant was entitled to relief on his claim that his waiver of his right to a jury trial was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.Defendant signed a waiver form purporting to waive his right to a jury trial on the charge of resisting arrest. The district court accepted the waiver. After a bench trial, the court found Defendant guilty of resisting arrest and several other charges. The ICA affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the judgments of the lower courts, holding (1) the record did not reflect a discuss and exchange sufficient to satisfy the district court's responsibility of ensuring a jury trial waiver's validity; and (2) under this Court's recent decision in State v. Ernes, 465 P.3d 763 (Haw. 2020), Defendant's waiver was not properly verified as knowing, intelligent and voluntary. View "State v. Voorhees " on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that, under the totality of the circumstances in this case, the results of Defendant's breath test were admissible because Defendant validly consented to the breath test.After police arrested Defendant for habitually operating a vehicle under the influence of intoxicants an officer read Defendant the Honolulu Police Department's (HPD) implied consent form. Defendant signed and initialed the form consenting to the breath test. Defendant filed a motion to suppress the results of the breath test, arguing that his consent was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary because the form did not comply with the implied consent statutory scheme and was, therefore, inaccurate. The circuit court suppressed Defendant's breath test results. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) vacated the circuit court's order, concluding that suppression of Defendant's breath test was not the proper remedy for non-compliance with Haw. Rev. Stat. Chapter 291E procedures. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the implied consent form here complied with Chapter 291E and was not inaccurate or misleading; and (2) only inaccuracies in implied consent forms that are reasonably likely to influence an arrestee to consent will require suppression. View "State v. Hosaka" on Justia Law

Given the rising number of COVID-19 cases at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) and the difficulties with social distancing the Supreme Court requested additional information to assist the court and parties in addressing the public health and safety concerns raised by the cluster of COVID-19 cases at OCCC.The Office of the Public Defender (ODP) filed a petition for extraordinary writ and/or a writ of mandamus seeking a reduction of the inmate populations at the State's correctional centers and facilities in an effort to mitigate the harm that COVID-19 may inflict upon the inmates, correctional staff, and general public. The Supreme Court stated that there was an urgent and immediate concern in reducing the inmate populations at OCCC and ordered that the DPS shall provide to the OPD a list of all inmates at OCCC who meet certain criteria. View "In re Individuals in Custody of State of Hawai'i" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals and the circuit court's judgment convicting Defendant of assault in the second degree, holding that the prosecutor's misconduct in this case violated Defendant's due process right to a fair trial.Defendant was convicted of assault in the second degree in connection with an incident involving Defendant's wife (CW). The only witnesses to the incident at the time the injury were Defendant and CW. During trial, the prosecutor made at least eight improper statements during closing argument, and the misconduct affected the central issue to Defendant's self-defense claim of whether he acted with the intent to protect himself. The Supreme Court remanded the case, holding that the strength of the evidence in support of self-defense, the protracted nature of the prosecutorial misconduct, and the court's ineffective curative instructions led to the conclusion that the misconduct was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "State v. Conroy" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) and the district court's judgment convicting Defendant of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (OVUII), holding that the ICA gravely erred as a matter of law in finding that even if the district court erroneously allowed a police officer to opine that Defendant failed standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs), the error was harmless.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the district court erred by permitting Officer Joshua Wong to express an expert opinion that Defendant "failed" the SFSTs, and the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the district court erred in permitting expert opinion testimony that Defendant had a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or above; (3) the district court did not err in permitting expert opinion testimony that Defendant was intoxicated, but, prospectively, police officers may no longer testify, whether in a lay or expert capacity, that a driver appeared "intoxicated"; and (4) Defendant's conviction was supported by substantial evidence. View "State v. Jones" on Justia Law

In this criminal case, the Supreme Court held prospectively that once the court receives notice pursuant to Haw. Rev. Stat. 407.5(1) that a defendant's penal responsibility is an issue in the case, the circuit court must advise a defendant of the penal-responsibility defense and obtain a knowing waiver of the defense.During the criminal proceedings in this case, two of the three examiners concluded that Defendant lacked penal responsibility. Defendant insisted that he was not mentally ill and that he did not want to assert a defense based on lack of penal responsibility. The circuit court eventually found Defendant was fit to stand trial, and Defendant was found guilty. On appeal, Defendant argued that the circuit court should have either sua sponte instructed the jury about the defense of criminal responsibility or conduct a colloquy to ensure that he knowingly and voluntarily decided not to raise the defense. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that (1) going forward, courts have a duty to obtain a knowing and voluntary waiver of a penal-responsibility defense; and (2) the trial court followed the rules in place at the time of Defendant's conviction and had no duty to sua sponte instruct the jury on lack of penal responsibility. View "State v. Glenn" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated Defendant's sentence for theft in the second degree by shoplifting, holding that, pursuant to State v. Auld, 361 P.3d 471 (Haw. 2015), Defendant's sentence violated his right to a jury determination as to whether he qualified to be sentenced as a repeat offender pursuant to Haw. Rev. Stat. 706-606.5.The circuit court sentenced Defendant as a repeat offender to a mandatory minimum of five years' incarceration without the possibility of parole. The circuit court, however, did not require a jury to find that Defendant qualified as a repeat offender beyond a reasonable doubt, as required by Auld. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed the conviction and sentence. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment on appeal and the circuit court's sentence and remanded the case for resentencing, holding (1) Defendant was entitled to the protections of Auld; and (2) the State was required to, but did not, prove Defendant's predicate prior convictions to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt prior to imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence as a repeat offender. View "State v. Means" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (OVUII), holding that the district court abused its discretion in denying Defendant's motion to compel.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) as to Defendant's speedy trial challenges, Haw. R. Penal P. 48 requires a "meaningful" commencement of trial, a trial is "meaningfully" commenced when a trial court reasonably commits its resources to the trial, and this holding applies prospectively to events occurring after publication of this decision; (2) the prosecutor in this case was not required to personally review files of the testifying police officers; and (3) the district court abused its discretion in denying Defendant's motion to compel production of a video recording showing Defendant at the police station after her arrest because the video recording was material to Defendant's defense and her request was reasonable. View "State v. Alkire" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the circuit court's judgment of conviction and sentence, holding that Defendant's privilege against self-incrimination was infringed when the circuit court permitted the jury to view a video of Defendant invoking that privilege.Defendant was charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the first degree as a result of an altercation with another person during which Defendant allegedly punched and kicked that person multiple times. During trial, the State played for the jury a video of a detective interviewing Defendant that concluded with Defendant declining the detective's request that Defendant reenact the altercation. The jury convicted Defendant of attempted murder in the second degree. The ICA affirmed. The Supreme Court remanded the case for a new trial, holding that Defendant invoked his right to remain silent when he declined to participate in a reenactment of the encounter and that his right to do so was infringed when the prosecution played the police interview video before the jury at trial. View "State v. Beaudet-Close" on Justia Law