Justia Hawaii Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Mother and Father, who were never married, were the biological parents of two minor children. Father sought custody of the children and sought to exclude Mother from visitation. The family court decided to consider the parties’ competing custody petitions in a trial for which it set a three hour limit. During the trial, which lasted approximately three hours, Father was able to present his evidence, but Mother’s evidence was cut short despite her motion for additional time. The family court awarded sole legal and physical custody to Father. The Supreme Court vacated the family court’s order, holding that the family court abused its discretion in denying Mother’s motion for additional trial time, as the family court’s strict enforcement of the time limit unduly curtailed Mother’s ability to present evidence relevant to the proper determination of the children’s best interests. Remanded. View "AC v. AC" on Justia Law

In 1989, land in Waikoloa on Hawai’i Island was reclassified from agricultural to urban to allow for the development of a residential community. The reclassification was made subject certain conditions. The land changed hands several time over the years. In 2009, the landowner, Bridge Aina Le’a, LLC (Bridge), informed the Land Use Commission (LUC) that it intended to assign its interest in the land to DW Aina Le’a Development, LLC (DW). DW subsequently invested approximately $20 million in developing the site. Nevertheless, the LUC voted to revert the land to its former agricultural land use classification on the basis that Bridge and its predecessors in interest had failed to perform according to the conditions imposed. Bridge and DW each sought judicial review of the LUC’s decision and order. The circuit court reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated the judgment in part, holding that the circuit court (1) correctly concluded that the LUC erred in reverting the property without complying with the requirements of Haw. Rev. Stat. 205-4; and (2) erred in concluding that Bridge’s and DW’s procedural and substantive due process rights and equal protection rights were violated. View "DW Aina Le'a Dev., LLC v. Bridge Aina Le'a, LLC" on Justia Law

Ralph Mitchell, a condominium owner in the Association of Apartment Owners of Discovery Bay (“AOAO”), submitted a petition to the AOAO to conduct a special meeting of the AOAO to remove one or more of the AOAO Board members. The AOAO filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief alleging that the petition did not contain at least twenty-five percent of the owners’ signatures, and therefore, there was no basis for conducting a special meeting. The circuit court granted summary judgment for the AOAO. The AOAO subsequently sought fees and costs under Haw. Rev. Stat. 514B-157(a) and (b). The circuit court granted the motion. Mitchell appealed, arguing that the AOAO’s refusal to mediate the dispute precluded it from an entitlement of any fees and costs under Haw. Rev. Stat. 514B-161(a). The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA’s judgment and remanded for a determination of whether section 514B-161(a) applies in this case and, if so, directed the circuit court to take into consideration such refusal in determining whether to award attorneys’ fees and costs. View "Ass’n of Apartment Owners of Discovery Bay v. Mitchell" on Justia Law

Plaintiff sued the County of Hawai’i for negligence, alleging that it breached a legal duty to use reasonable care in maintaining pertinent correspondence in its property files contained in the Planning Department and that this breach caused Plaintiff monetary damages. The circuit court granted the County’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that the County had no statutorily-based duty to maintain Planning Department records with unerring accuracy. The intermediate court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) neither Rule 1-8 of the Hawai’i County Planning Department Rules of Practice and Procedure nor Haw. Rev. Stat. 92F provide a statutory basis for imposing negligence liability upon the County Planning Department based on a breach of any duty to maintain its property files in accurate and timely condition at all times; and (2) policy considerations counsel against the judicial creation of such a legal duty under the common law . View "Molfino v. Yuen" on Justia Law

In 2012, the Land Use Commission (LUC) granted Horton-Schuler Homes LLC’s petition to reclassify certain lands in ‘Ewa District, O’ahu from agricultural to urban use subject to certain conditions. The Sierra Club filed a notice of appeal with the circuit court requesting judicial review of the decision, and Friends of Makakilo (FOM), a non-profit corporation, filed a notice of cross-appeal. FOM did not file its cross-appeal within thirty days after service of the certified copy of LUC’s final decision and order as required by Haw. Rev. Stat. 91-14(b). The circuit court held that FOM’s cross-appeal was not allowed by law because aggrieved parties have no right to cross-appeal and that FOM’s cross-appeal was untimely. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s dismissal of FOM’s cross-appeal as untimely, holding that an “aggrieved person” seeking judicial review of an administrative decision under the Hawai’i APA must institute review proceedings within thirty days after service of the final decision and order. View "Friends of Makakilo v. D.R. Horton-Schulder Homes, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of all persons similarly situated, filed a first amended class action complaint alleging that Gentry Homes, Ltd. constructed Plaintiffs’ home without adequate high wind protection. Gentry filed a motion to compel arbitration pursuant to a provision in the Home Builder’s Limited Warranty (HBLW) between Gentry and Plaintiffs. The circuit court ordered Plaintiffs to arbitrate their claims against Gentry but severed and struck an arbitrator-selection provision for potential conflict of interest. The intermediate court of appeals concluded that the circuit court should have enforced the HBLW’s arbitrator-selection provision. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA’s judgment and affirmed the circuit court orders, holding (1) the ICA erred in required a party challenging an arbitrator-selection provision to show evidence of “actual bias”; and (2) in resolving a challenge to an arbitrator-selection provision, the “fundamental fairness” standard should be applied, and under this standard, the arbitrator-selection provision was fundamentally unfair. View "Nishimura v. Gentry Homes, Ltd." on Justia Law

This appeal arose from a property title dispute between Defendant, who purchased the property in 2007, and Plaintiff, which later acquired a quitclaim deed to the property following a judicial foreclosure. After Defendant refused to vacate the property, Plaintiff filed the underlying action, requesting a judgment for immediate and exclusive possession of the property and a writ of possession. The circuit court entered an order granting Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and issued a writ of possession. Defendant filed post-judgment motions and then filed a notice of appeal from the summary judgment. The circuit court denied Defendant’s post-judgment motions. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) vacated the summary judgment and remanded based on Defendant’s post-judgment declaration. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA’s judgment and remanded, holding that the ICA erred in relying upon Defendant’s post-judgment motion as a basis to find disputed facts with regard to the motion for summary judgment. View "Kondaur Capital Corp. v. Matsuyoshi" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with and convicted of the offense of solicitation with animals in Waikiki Special District based on “an exchange of cash immediately following the activity of picture taking” with Defendant’s birds. Defendant appealed, arguing that the State failed to provide sufficient evidence regarding the element of solicitation. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) an element of the offense of solicitation with animals in Waikiki Special District is the use of a live animal to request or demand money or gifts; and (2) there was insufficient evidence to prove this element of the offense. View "State v. Abel" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Nelson Waikiki, Jr. was one of seven candidates for the Maui County Mayoral seat in the August 9, 2014 special primary election. Plaintiff received the fourth highest number of votes in the election. On August 22, 2014, Waikiki requested a re-vote or a re-count due to conspiracy and corruption by election officials. Chief Election Officer Scott Nago moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely and for failure to state a claim. The Supreme Court granted the motion, holding that Waikiki failed to present specific facts or actual information of mistakes or error sufficient to change the results of the election, and therefore, Waikiki could prove no set of facts that would entitle him to relief. View "Waikiki v. Nago " on Justia Law

At issue in the case was a proclamation made by Chief Election Officer Scott Nago on Friday August 8, 2014 that closed two polling places on the Big Island and postponed the elections for Precincts 04-01 and 04-02. The next day, the primary election went forward as scheduled. On Friday, August 15, 2014, the election proceeded for Precincts 04-01 and 04-02 and was subsequently completed. On August 21, 2014, Plaintiffs, none of whom identified were registered voters of precincts that were closed on Saturday, August 9, 2014 or candidates for elected office, filed an election contest complaint against Nago and the Office of Elections, alleging that Nago should be fired because voters were denied their right to vote. The Supreme Court dismissed the complaint, holding (1) Plaintiffs were not proper parties to the election contest and lacked the requisite standing under Haw. Rev. Stat. 11-172; and (2) even if Plaintiffs had standing, the complaint failed to set forth any allegations that would demonstrate errors, mistakes, or irregularities that would change the election result. View "Cermelj v. Nago " on Justia Law