Rosa v. Kaua'i Police Department

• Court: Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
• Decided: December 9, 2025
• Docket: CAAP-23-0000492
• Status: Published

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 09-DEC-2025 07:54 AM Dkt. 53 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI

AUSTIN ROSA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KAUAʻI POLICE DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, COUNTY OF KAUAʻI, STATE OF HAWAIʻI, Defendants-Appellees.

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 5CCV-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER (By: Nakasone, Chief Judge, McCullen and Guidry, JJ.)

Self-represented Plaintiff-Appellant Austin Rosa

appeals from the Circuit Court of the Fifth Circuit's

July 24, 2023 order denying his motion for recusal and Hawai‘i

Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 60 relief (Order Denying

Relief from Judgment). 1 On appeal, Rosa contends the circuit

court erred because he presented newly discovered evidence and

it "committed judicial misconduct."

1 The Honorable Randal G.B. Valenciano presided. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Upon careful review of the record and the briefs

submitted by the parties, and having given due consideration to

the issues raised and the arguments advanced, we resolve this

appeal as discussed below and affirm.

In May 2018, Rosa pled guilty to resisting an order to

stop a motor vehicle (Resisting Order to Stop Case) 2 as part of a

global plea agreement resolving charged offenses in other cases.

During sentencing, Rosa stated, "I was scared and that's why I

ran, but I shouldn't have ran. I should have just stayed and

all this wouldn't have happened, but I did knowingly commit the

crime of resisting to stop a motor vehicle."

The circuit court attempted to sentence Rosa to

probation, but Rosa refused, stating he would "rather just take

my open five today." After continuing the sentencing hearing so

Rosa could consult his attorney, the circuit court entered a

judgment of conviction and sentenced Rosa to five years'

imprisonment.

In May 2021, Rosa (self-represented) filed a Hawai‘i

Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 40 Petition. In September

2021, Rosa (represented by counsel) supplemented his Petition

with an additional claim for relief, arguing he did not

voluntarily waive his right to a jury trial because the circuit

2 The Honorable Kathleen N.A. Watanabe presided in the Resisting Order to Stop Case. 2 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

court failed to "advise him of certain aspects of his right to a

jury trial." The circuit court granted Rosa's Petition, and

Rosa's guilty plea was withdrawn and stricken. The State then

moved to dismiss the charge with prejudice, which the circuit

court granted.

In April 2022, Rosa filed the underlying complaint

against Defendants-Appellees Kaua‘i Police Department (KPD),

Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, and County of Kaua‘i

(collectively, Appellees), raising six "grounds" for relief and

seeking five million dollars in damages, all premised on Rosa's

claim of actual innocence in the Resisting Order to Stop Case. 3

Appellees moved for summary judgment, at which point

Rosa filed requests with the circuit court to subpoena two of

his previous attorneys and release KPD dashboard camera video

(the Video) of his arrest in the Resisting Order to Stop Case

that he contended proved his innocence. The circuit court

denied his requests, and Rosa responded to Appellees' summary

judgment motion.

Following a hearing, the circuit court granted summary

judgment. Rosa filed a motion for reconsideration, which the

circuit court denied.

3 Rosa alleged the following six "grounds": (1) civil rights violations; (2) retaliation; (3) torts including (a) false imprisonment and (b) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (4) reputational harm; (5) violations of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; and (6) malicious prosecution.

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In May 2023, Rosa (through newly retained counsel)

filed a "Motion 1) for Recusal and 2) for HRPP [sic HRCP]

Rule 60 Relief" (Motion for Relief from Judgment). (Formatting

altered.) Rosa argued the Honorable Randal G.B. Valenciano

should recuse himself, because he created an "appearance of

partiality against Rosa" by denying Rosa's requests to subpoena

previous attorneys and release the Video. Rosa further argued

the Video and a letter from Kaua‘i County's Motor Vehicle

Registration Officer (the Letter) constituted newly discovered

evidence warranting relief from judgment.

At the hearing on Rosa's Motion for Relief from

Judgment, Judge Valenciano first orally declined to recuse

himself. The circuit court then explained it could not "find

that the [V]ideo was newly discovered evidence," because, as

Rosa's counsel acknowledged, Rosa "was aware of . . . the

existence of [the Video] back in 2017." Rosa was thus "aware of

the evidence at a very early stage of the criminal case, not the

civil case," even though he "never had possession of" the Video.

The circuit court did not expressly address the issue of the

Letter, but nonetheless orally denied Rosa's Motion for Relief

from Judgment.

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The circuit court entered its written order denying

Rosa's Motion for Relief from Judgment on July 24, 2023, and

this appeal followed.

(1) Rosa contends the circuit court abused its

discretion when it denied his Motion for Relief from Judgment

based upon newly discovered evidence. 4 Specifically, Rosa points

to the Video and the Letter.

Under HRCP Rule 60(b)(2), courts "may relieve a party

. . . from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for . . .

newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have

been discovered in time to move for a new trial under

Rule 59(b)."

A party seeking relief due to newly discovered

evidence must therefore demonstrate the evidence is

(1) previously undiscovered despite having exercised due

diligence; (2) admissible and credible; and (3) material and

controlling such that it will probably change the outcome.

Ditto v. McCurdy, 103 Hawai‘i 153, 162, 80 P.3d 974, 983 (2003).

But evidence known to defendants or their "counsel before or at

trial does not constitute newly discovered evidence justifying

new trial." State v. McNulty, 60 Haw. 259, 268, 588 P.2d 438,

4 Rosa does not present any argument on appeal regarding excusable neglect. See Hawai‘i Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 28(b)(4) ("Points not presented in accordance with this section will be disregarded.").

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445 (1978), overruled on other grounds by, State v. Eberly, 107

Hawai‘i 239, 112 P.3d 725 (2005).

(a) Regarding the Video, Rosa argues the Video is

newly discovered evidence. He explains that he exercised due

diligence by first contacting KPD after Appellees moved for

summary judgment and then "petition[ing] the [circuit] court for

assistance in obtaining the [Video]."

Rosa, however, testified he first saw the Video when a

previous attorney in his criminal case "came to visit [him] in

[Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center (KCCC)]. He showed [Rosa]

to [sic] it on his phone." The record indicates Rosa was

incarcerated at KCCC in 2017. As such, Rosa knew of the footage

roughly five years before filing his civil complaint and, thus,

it is not newly discovered evidence under HRCP Rule 60(b)(2).

See id.

(b) As for the Letter, Rosa argues that it shows he

was not the owner of the vehicle in the Video.

But, whether Rosa was or was not the registered owner

of the vehicle in the Video is not "of such a material and

controlling nature as will probably change the outcome" of the

Resisting Order to Stop Case, because being the vehicle's

"registered owner" is not an element of the offense of Resisting

an Order to Stop a Motor Vehicle in the First Degree under

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Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 710-1026.9 (Supp. 2016). 5 See

Ditto, 103 Hawai‘i at 162, 80 P.3d at 983.

Thus, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion

by denying Rosa's Motion for Relief from Judgment based on newly

discovered evidence.

(2) Rosa next contends the circuit court's denial of

his Motion for Relief from Judgment "proves that the circuit

[court] err[ed] and acted with extreme [negligence]." He argues

5 HRS § 710-1026.9 provides:

(1) A person commits the offense of resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle in the first degree if the person:

(a) Intentionally fails to obey a direction of a law enforcement officer, acting under color of the law enforcement officer's official authority, to stop the person's motor vehicle; and

(b) While intentionally fleeing from or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer:

(i) Operates the person's motor vehicle in reckless disregard of the safety of other persons; or

(ii) Operates the person's motor vehicle in reckless disregard of the risk that the speed of the person's vehicle exceeds:

(A) The applicable state or county speed limit by thirty miles per hour or more; or

(B) Eighty miles per hour or more, irrespective of the applicable state or county speed limit.

For purposes of this section, "the applicable state or county speed limit" shall have the same meaning as in section 291C-105.

(2) Resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle in the first degree is a class C felony.

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that "Judge Valenciano err[ed] and committed judicial

misconduct" by denying his request to present an alibi witness

at the summary judgment hearing, "which prove[s] even more

prejudice directed towards Mr. Rosa." In Rosa's view, "the

circuit court has taken every opportunity to unfairly

disadvantage [his] case." We thus construe this argument as

challenging Judge Valenciano's exercise of discretion in

declining to recuse himself.

HRS § 601-7(b) (2016) "sets forth the appropriate

procedure for seeking disqualification because of personal

bias." State v. Ross, 89 Hawai‘i 371, 377, 974 P.2d 11, 17

(1998). The movant must "timely file an affidavit stating the

facts and reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists."

Id. (citation modified). Hawai‘i courts "have long recognized,

however, that petitioners may not predicate their claims of

disqualifying bias on adverse rulings, even if the rulings are

erroneous. Id. at 378, 974 P.2d at 18.

Rosa neglected to file the required affidavit. But

even if he had, Rosa impermissibly predicates his allegations of

bias upon the circuit court's adverse rulings, namely its denial

of Rosa's requests to subpoena former counsel, obtain the Video,

and present an alibi witness at the summary judgment hearing.

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See id. Thus, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion

when it declined Rosa's request to recuse.

Based on the foregoing, we affirm the circuit court's

July 24, 2023 Order Denying Relief from Judgment.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, December 9, 2025.

On the briefs: /s/ Karen T. Nakasone Chief Judge Austin Rosa, Self-represented Plaintiff- /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen Appellant. Associate Judge

Mark L. Bradbury, /s/ Kimberly T. Guidry Deputy County Attorney, Associate Judge County of Kaua‘i, for Defendants-Appellees.