Justia Hawaii Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court dismissed this election complaint brought by Plaintiff Jay Dee Penn, holding that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.Plaintiff brought this complaint asserting inaccurate reporting violations of law relating to election fraud, ballot irregularities, inadequate ballot security and voter discrimination and suppression. As relief, Plaintiff requested, among other things, that all 2022 primary election ballots be preserved for almost two years for further review and delaying the certification of the 2022 primary election until a statewide audit and recount could take place. The Supreme Court dismissed the complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, holding that the remedies sought by Plaintiff were not authorized by Haw. Rev. Stat. 11-173.5(b). View "Penn v. State, Office of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed Plaintiff's election complaint seeking a manual recount of the ballots cast in the 2022 Republican Primary Election for the House District 45 seat and an order requiring certain requests to be granted, holding that Plaintiff's complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.Plaintiff Carlotta Oquendo, one of the three Primary Election Republican Party candidates in the House District 45 race, filed a complaint requesting that an order be issued requiring a manual recount of the race and an order requiring certain requests be granted to restore public confidence in the integrity of Hawaii elections. The Supreme Court dismissed the complaint, holding that Plaintiff's requests were not authorized by Haw. Rev. Stat. 11-173.5(b). View "Oquendo v. State, Office of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that class action tolling applies to Haw. Rev. Stat. 46-72 and that a class action complaint may therefore satisfy the statue's notice requirement and that the availability of class action tolling turns on whether the class action provided the defendant notice of the subject matter and potential size of the litigation at issue.Plaintiff Hakim Ouansafi filed a putative class action lawsuit against the City and County of Honolulu alleging that Honolulu's failure to inspect and maintain its storm and drainage system caused him and other Honolulu residents to be injured by the April 2018 flood. Ouansafi then settled on an individual basis with Honolulu. The district court denied class certification, after which individuals affected by the 2018 flood brought twelve separate actions against Honolulu. At issue was whether the' suits were timely. The Supreme Court held that class action tolling applied to the individual suits because the Ouansafi complaint satisfied tolled the statute of limitations applicable to the individual suits. View "Coles v. City & County of Honolulu" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied Plaintiffs' election contest complaint seeking nullification of the 2022 primary election results, holding that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.Plaintiffs Gary Cordery and a group of thirty registered voters brought this election contest complaint alleging inconsistencies, errors and mistakes in the voting process during the 2022 Primary Election. As relief, Plaintiffs requested nullification of the 2022 primary election results and directions that all qualified candidates advance to the General Election. The Supreme Court denied relief, holding that the remedies sought by Plaintiffs were not statutorily authorized, and therefore, Plaintiffs' complaint failed to state a claim. View "Cordery v. State of Hawai'i Office of Elections " on Justia Law

The Supreme Court entered judgment in favor of Defendants in this election contest brought by Plaintiff Richard Kim, holding that Josh Green received the highest number of votes and that his name shall be placed on the ballot as the Democratic Party candidate for the Office of Governor in the 2022 General Election.Plaintiff, one of seven Democratic Party candidates for the Office of Governor in the 2022 General Election, brought this complaint asserting that compromised vote counting occurred and that he should have been declared the winner of the primary election race held on August 13, 2022. The Supreme Court denied relief, holding that there was no genuine issue of material fact related to Plaintiff's election contest. View "Kim v. State of Hawai'i Office of Elections " on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed this original proceeding that the Supreme Court construed as an election complaint, holding that this Court did not have jurisdiction to grant Plaintiff the relief he sought.Plaintiff, one of the two Primary Election Republican Party candidates in the Senate District 24 race, brought this action requesting that an order be issued halting the certification of the 2022 Primary Election so that a manual recount could be conducted and asserting, among other things, a lack of resolution on certain election integrity inquiries. The Supreme Court granted the motion to dismiss filed by the State of Hawai'i Office of Elections, holding that this Court lacked the authority under Haw. Rev. Stat. 11-173.5(b) to grant Plaintiff the relief he sought. View "Lam v. State of Hawai'i Office of Elections " on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed this original proceeding brought upon Plaintiff's submission of a document entitled "Election Complaint; Motion for Preliminary Injunction Rule 65 HRCP," which was filed as an election contest complaint, holding that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.In the submitted document, Plaintiff Daniel B. Decker IV argued that Defendant, the State of Hawai'i Office of Elections, failed properly to apply the qualification process upon the Hawaii Republican Party for the year 2022 primary election. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice. The Supreme Court granted the motion to dismiss, holding that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. View "Decker v. Hawai'i Office of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed this original proceeding brought upon Plaintiffs' submission of a document entitled "Election Complaint; Motion for Preliminary Injunction Rule 65 HRCP," which was filed as an election contest complaint, holding that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.In their document that was filed as an election contest complaint Plaintiffs asserted that the Hawai'i Republican Party should have been disqualified as an active party and requesting that the Hawai'i Republican Party name be barred from appearing on the 2022 general election ballot. The Supreme Court dismissed the complaint, holding that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction over their complaint or the relief they sought. View "Dicks v. State of Haw. Office of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the judgment of the circuit court convicting and sentencing Defendant but reversed with regard to the issue of Defendant's ability to pay a crime victim compensation (CVC) fee under Haw. Rev. Stat. 706-605(6) and 351-62.6, holding that Defendant's inability to pay the CVC fee mandated waiver of the fee.Defendant was convicted of various drug, theft, fraud, and property crimes. In addition to a five-year term of incarceration, the circuit court ordered Defendant to pay a CVC fee and a drug demand reduction (DDR) assessment under Haw. Rev. Stat. 706-650. Defendant appealed, arguing that both the CVC fee and the DDR assessment constituted unconstitutional taxes. The ICA affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment as to its imposition of the CVC and affirmed in all other respects, holding (1) the circuit court erroneously imposed the CVC fee upon Defendant because he was unable to pay the fee; and (2) the CVC fee and DDR assessment were not unconstitutional taxes. View "State v. Yamashita" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming Defendant's kidnapping conviction, holding that the circuit court erred in failing to instruct the jury in accordance with State v. Sheffield, 456 P.3d 122 (Haw. 2020), and the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of kidnapping as a class A felony and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. The ICA affirmed. At issue on appeal was whether the circuit court plainly erred in failing to give the jury a Sheffield instruction in this case. The Supreme Court answered the question in the affirmative, holding that the circuit court erred in failing to so instruct the jury, and the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "State v. Ishimine" on Justia Law