State v. Beaudet-Close.

468 P.3d 80
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedJune 24, 2020
DocketSCWC-17-0000701
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 468 P.3d 80 (State v. Beaudet-Close.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Beaudet-Close., 468 P.3d 80 (haw 2020).

Opinion

*** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX 24-JUN-2020 08:14 AM

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII

---o0o---

STATE OF HAWAII, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

ANTHONY G. BEAUDET-CLOSE, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX

CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX; CR. NO. 16-0368K)

JUNE 24, 2020

RECKTENWALD, C.J., NAKAYAMA, McKENNA, POLLACK, AND WILSON, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY NAKAYAMA, J.

We held in State v. Mainaaupo, 117 Hawaii 235, 178

P.3d 1 (2008), that the foundational privilege against self-

incrimination, commonly referred to as the “right to remain

silent,” attaches during post-arrest police interrogation. We *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

later expanded the scope of this privilege to pre-arrest

detainment. State v. Tsujimura, 140 Hawaii 299, 400 P.3d 500

(2017). This case explores if a suspect’s refusal to reenact

the incident for which the suspect is being interviewed invokes

the right to remain silent and if the prosecution’s reference to

the suspect’s refusal at trial violates that right.

In 2016, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Anthony G.

Beaudet-Close (Beaudet-Close) was involved in an altercation

with Luke Ault (Ault) during which Beaudet-Close allegedly

punched and kicked Ault multiple times. As a result of the

altercation, Ault sustained permanent and life-threatening

injuries. Beaudet-Close was charged with Attempted Murder in

the Second Degree and Assault in the First Degree.

At trial, the State played for the jury a video of a

detective interviewing Beaudet-Close (police interview video).

The police interview video concluded with Beaudet-Close

declining the detective’s request that Beaudet-Close reenact the

altercation.

Beaudet-Close filed a motion for a mistrial after the

jury viewed the police interview video, arguing that it was an

impermissible comment on his invocation of his right to remain

silent. The circuit court denied Beaudet-Close’s motion and

trial continued.

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The jury convicted Beaudet-Close of Attempted Murder

in the Second Degree and the circuit court sentenced Beaudet-

Close to life in prison. The ICA affirmed the Judgment of

Conviction and Sentence on appeal.

In his application for writ of certiorari, Beaudet-

Close argues that he invoked his right to remain silent when he

refused to participate in a reenactment and that the

prosecutor’s decision to play a video of that refusal before the

jury was an improper comment on his invocation of that right.

We agree. We hold that Beaudet-Close 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.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 9, 2016, the State of Hawaii (the State)

charged Beaudet-Close by complaint with Attempted Murder in the

Second Degree and Assault in the First Degree. The charge arose

from an altercation that took place between Beaudet-Close and

Ault on October 28, 2016 in Kailua Kona on the island of Hawaii.

Ault was seriously injured during the altercation.

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A. Trial

Beaudet-Close’s jury trial began on July 11, 2017.1

During opening statements, the State presented its theory that

on the night of the incident, Beaudet-Close hit Ault in the face

so hard that he put him into a coma. Beaudet-Close attacked

Ault with so much force, the State argued, because he intended

to kill Ault. The State asserted that multiple witnesses who

saw the attack would testify that Beaudet-Close kicked and

punched Ault, but that Ault never struck Beaudet-Close back or

tried to defend himself. The State explained that Ault, who

remained in a coma for weeks after the incident, suffered

multiple facial fractures, a subdural hematoma, and a traumatic

brain injury.

In Beaudet-Close’s opening statements, his counsel

explained that Beaudet-Close was walking through a dangerous

area where drugs were frequently sold and consumed when Ault

approached him with a knife and said “[w]e got shit to settle.”

Beaudet-Close argued that he acted in self-defense and did not

intend to kill Ault.

1. Detective Walter Ah Mow’s Testimony

The State called retired Hawaii Police Department

(HPD) Detective Walter Ah Mow (Detective Ah Mow). Detective

1 The Honorable Melvin H. Fujino presided.

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Ah Mow worked for the Criminal Investigation Section in Kona in

2016 and was assigned to the “assault investigation” that is the

subject of this appeal. He testified that Beaudet-Close became

a person of interest after a witness identified Beaudet-Close as

the assailant. Detective Ah Mow stated that on November 7,

2016, he interviewed Beaudet-Close, who had already turned

himself in for the assault and was confined to a cellblock.

Detective Ah Mow video recorded the interview.

According to Detective Ah Mow, Beaudet-Close told him

that on the night of the incident, Ault had brandished a knife.

Detective Ah Mow testified that Beaudet-Close’s statement did

not make sense and that he was never able to corroborate

Beaudet-Close’s assertion that Ault had brandished a knife.

Detective Ah Mow stated, “[t]here was no knife involved.”

Detective Ah Mow explained that he advised Beaudet-

Close of his “rights regarding the making or not making of a

statement . . . [and] his rights regarding an attorney” using

the standard Hawaii Police Department Advice of Rights form

(Advice of Rights Form). Detective Ah Mow read the Advice of

Rights Form to Beaudet-Close, who initialed it in various

places. Beaudet-Close’s initials and verbal statements

indicated that he understood the Advice of Rights Form, that he

waived his right to an attorney, and that he was willing to

5 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

answer questions and to make a statement. The State moved a

copy of the Advice of Rights Form into evidence.

The State then moved to place Exhibit 13A, a copy of

the police interview video, into evidence. Beaudet-Close

objected as to foundation and on Hawaiʿi Rules of Evidence (HRE)

Rule 4032 grounds. The circuit court overruled those objections

in the following exchange:

[BEAUDET-CLOSE’S COUNSEL]: Uh, just as to foundation, Your Honor, I don’t know – I haven’t reviewed that disc but otherwise that’s my objection.

THE COURT: Court will receive 13A.

. . . .

[BEAUDET-CLOSE’S COUNSEL]: And if I could, Your Honor, I also object to 13A on 403 prior to publication.

THE COURT: Overruled.

The State published the video to the jury.

2. The Police Interview Video

The police interview video depicts Detective Ah Mow

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Related

State v. Melendez
535 P.3d 16 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
468 P.3d 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-beaudet-close-haw-2020.