Justia Hawaii Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs filed this action against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) trustees, claiming that the OHA trustees breached their fiduciary duties by improperly expending trust funds on Hawaiians, as opposed to native Hawaiians, in violation of Hawaii law and the Hawaii Constitution. The circuit court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the circuit court did not err in dismissing Plaintiff's complaint because it failed to state a claim; and (2) the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying Plaintiffs' motion to amend the complaint. View "Kealoha v. Machado" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with the offense of kidnapping. After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of kidnapping. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree. The intermediate court of appeals affirmed, holding that any error in failing to instruct the jury as to first degree unlawful imprisonment was harmless because the jury convicted Defendant of the greater charged offense and, thus, would not have reached the absent lesser offense. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of conviction and sentence, holding (1) the circuit court should have given a jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree; and (2) the failure to give the instruction was not harmless, overruling State v. Haanio to the extent that Haanio would hold such error to be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Remanded. View "Flores v. State " on Justia Law

Respondent awarded Petitioner a contract to develop an affordable housing development project. The parties entered into a development services agreement (DSA) that contained a provision stating that the parties would proceed to arbitration under state law in the event of a dispute. Petitioner was subsequently terminated from the project. Respondent filed a complaint against Petitioner asserting several causes of action, including intentional misrepresentation and negligence. Petitioners counterclaimed. Petitioners later filed an arbitration motion, which the circuit granted. The intermediate court of appeals denied Petitioners' motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part, holding (1) the order compelling arbitration in this case was sufficiently final under the collateral order doctrine to be appealable under the general civil matters appeal statute; (2) the scope of the arbitration clause contained in the DSA encompassed all claims of Respondent and counterclaims of Petitioners; and (3) the circuit court correctly granted the motion to compel alternative dispute resolution and to stay proceedings. Remanded.View "County of Hawaii v. UniDev, LLC" on Justia Law

Petitioner was sentenced to a five-year term of probation for the offenses of promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree and prohibited acts related to drug paraphernalia. The probationary sentence was granted to Petitioner as a first time drug offender pursuant to Haw. Rev. Stat. 706-622.5. The sentence contained several terms and conditions. After the conclusion of Petitioner's probationary period, Petitioner filed a motion for an order of expungement. The circuit court concluded that Petitioner did not qualify for expungement of her felony convictions because, in committing other crimes during her probationary period, she had violated a term of her probation. The Supreme Court vacated the order denying Petitioner's motion, holding (1) for the purposes of expungement of a drug conviction, the requirement that a defendant sentenced to probation under section 706.622.5 has "complied with other terms and conditions" is satisfied if the defendant has completed her probationary term and has been discharged from probation; and (2) under the circumstances of this case, because Petitioner had completed her probation term, she had, in effect, complied with the terms and conditions of probation for purposes of expungement under section 706-622.5. Remanded for entry of an order granting Petitioner's motion.View "State v. Pali" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (OVUII) in violation of Haw. Rev. Stat. 261E-61(a)(1). The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed. Defendant subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing that the charge against him was jurisdictionally defective because it did not allege the requisite mens rea. The ICA denied Defendant's motion. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment and remanded to the trial court to enter an order dismissing the case without prejudice, holding the charge of OVUII in this case was insufficient because (1) the State failed to allege the requisite states of mind of intentional, knowing, or reckless in the charge, and (2) the charge failed to allege an essential fact constituting the offense charged. View "State v. Maharaji" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of robbery in the second degree, which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant used "force against the person of anyone present with the intent to overcome that person's physical resistance or physical power of resistance." Appellant, who took a handbag out of Nordstrom without paying for it, argued on appeal that the evidence was insufficient to prove he had used force with the intent to overcome two of the store's loss prevention officers' physical resistance or physical power of resistance." In this case, no specific unanimity instruction was given to the jury informing them that they were required to agree unanimously as to the identity of the person against whom Appellant used force. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court's failure to give a specific unanimity instruction constituted plain error, and the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Remanded for a new trial. View "State v. Getz" on Justia Law

Respondents, the Castro family, executed a mortgage encumbering their property that was assigned to Petitioner, U.S. Bank. When the Castros defaulted on their loan, U.S. Bank purchased the property at a foreclosure auction. Because the Castros failed to vacate the property as instructed, U.S. bank filed a two complaints for summary possession and ejectment against the Castros. The district court entered a judgment for possession and a writ of possession in favor of U.S. Bank and a separate order granting summary judgment for U.S. Bank. The intermediate court of appeals vacated the district court's judgment, concluding that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the case because the action was one in which title to real estate would come into question. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court properly exercised subject matter jurisdiction over the case because the Castros failed to demonstrate the action was one in which title to the subject property would come into question. View "U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Castro" on Justia Law

Petitioner posted bond for Defendant after Defendant was charged with several crimes. When Defendant failed to appear for trial, a judgment and order of forfeiture of bail bond was filed. Petitioner's motion was denied. Petitioner subsequently filed two successive motions for relief from forfeiture of bail bond pursuant to Haw. R. Civ. P. 7 and 60(b). The circuit court denied the motions. Petitioner appealed the denial of his third motion, which was dismissed as untimely. The intermediate court of appeals affirmed, holding (1) the Hawaii Rules of Civil procedure (HRCP) do not apply in bond forfeiture proceedings; and (2) Haw. Rev. Stat. 804-51 establishes the exclusive means to seek relief from a judgment of forfeiture. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the HRCP do not apply to bond forfeiture proceedings; (2) the statement in Haw. Rev. Stat. 804-14 that a surety may recover its bond at any time by surrendering the defendant is qualified by section 804-51, which provides that once the court enters a judgment of forfeiture, a surety is entitled to relief only by filing a motion within thirty days demonstrating good cause for setting the judgment of forfeiture aside; and (3) Petitioner's last motion was therefore untimely. View "State v. Vaimili" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of assault in the second degree, terroristic threatening in the second degree, and terroristic threatening in the first degree. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred in denying his request for the written transcripts or the DVD video recordings of his codefendant's trial. The intermediate court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the lower courts' judgments, holding that Defendant demonstrated that the requested transcripts or DVD video recordings were necessary for an effective defense where the charges against Defendant and his codefendant arose from the same incident and involved identical facts, and the same key witness testified against Defendant and his codefendant at their respective trials. Remanded for a new trial. View "State v. Scott" on Justia Law

Petitioner was orally arraigned and charged with excessive speeding in violation of Haw. Rev. Stat. 291C-105(a)(1). After a trial, the trial court found Petitioner guilty as charged. Petitioner appealed, and the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) affirmed. Petitioner appealed, arguing that the oral charge failed to allege the required intentional, knowing, and reckless states of mind and that the oral charge was therefore defective. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment, holding (1) because the charge against Petitioner did not allege that Petitioner acted intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, the charge failed to allege the requisite state of mind; and (2) the State failed to lay an adequate foundation to admit the laser gun reading of Petitioner's vehicle's speed into evidence during trial. Remanded. View "State v. Apollonio" on Justia Law