State v. Bunag

Opinion

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Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX 20-APR-2026 08:42 AM Dkt. 7 OP

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI

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STATE OF HAWAIʻI, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

ALDEN BUNAG, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX

CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX; CASE NO. 1CPC-XX-XXXXXXX)

APRIL 20, 2026

McKENNA, ACTING C.J., EDDINS, GINOZA, AND DEVENS, JJ., AND CIRCUIT JUDGE DREWYER, ASSIGNED BY REASON OF VACANCY

OPINION OF THE COURT BY EDDINS, J.

I.

A sentencing court must state its reasons for imposing a

consecutive sentence on the record at the time of sentencing.

Not in a written order filed weeks later. And not by parroting

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Here, the circuit court did both. Its on-the-record

rationale for a consecutive sentence was deficient, yet the

Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) affirmed.

First, to uphold the consecutive sentence, the ICA relied

on a written order filed after the defendant appealed. Written

orders after sentencing provide no cover for an inadequate

courtroom explanation as to “the need for consecutive sentences

and the sentence a defendant ‘would have received under the

presumption of concurrent sentencing.’” State v. Bautista, 153

Hawaiʻi 284, 290, 535 P.3d 1029, 1035 (2023) (quoting Lewi v.

State, 145 Hawaiʻi 333, 351, 452 P.3d 330, 348 (2019)).

Second, a what-she-said outsourcing of the court’s

responsibility for imposing a consecutive sentence falls short.

The court’s rationale must be independently articulated, not

borrowed wholesale from a prosecutor’s argument. See State v.

Hussein, 122 Hawaiʻi 495, 510, 229 P.3d 313, 328 (2010).

Apart from these errors, the thin rationale the court did

offer, a recitation of the case’s circumstances, said nothing

about why a consecutive term was justified.

We remand for resentencing.

II.

From August 2016 to September 2017, Alden Bunag (Bunag)

worked as a substitute teacher at a middle school. He sexually

assaulted a thirteen-year-old student, Luke (a pseudonym), on

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multiple occasions in a classroom at the school. He recorded at

least two assaults. He shared at least one video with adults

via an online chatroom. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

agents later found child pornography on Bunag’s phone and

evidence of further distribution to others online.

Luke confirmed more than three instances of oral and anal

penetration. He told FBI agents he had asked Bunag to delete

the recording but was unsure whether Bunag complied. Luke

reported that the abuse took a serious toll on his mental

health. He attempted to take his own life.

In January 2024, the United States District Court for the

District of Hawaiʻi sentenced Bunag to seventeen-and-a-half-years

for production of child pornography.

Meanwhile state proceedings had been underway since

September 2022, when an Oʻahu grand jury indicted Bunag on four

offenses: count 1, continuous sexual assault of a minor under

the age of fourteen years, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) § 707-

733.6 (2014); count 2, promoting child abuse in the first

degree, HRS § 707-750(1)(a) (2014 & Supp. 2016); count 3,

promoting child abuse in the second degree, HRS § 707-751(1)(a)

(2014 & Supp. 2016); and count 4, promoting child abuse in the

third degree, HRS § 707-752(1)(b) (2014 & Supp. 2016). In May

2023, the circuit court granted the State’s motion for nolle

prosequi as to count 2.

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On March 25, 2024, Bunag pled guilty to counts 1, 3, and 4.

There was no plea agreement.

At sentencing on July 10, 2024, the State orally moved for

consecutive sentencing. The court granted the motion. It

ordered the twenty-year (count 1) and ten-year (count 3) terms

consecutive, totaling thirty years. The five-year term in count

4 was concurrent. The court also ordered the state sentence to

be served concurrent with the federal sentence.

Here’s the circuit court’s on-the-record reasoning for the

consecutive sentence:

Whether the -- whether the defendant -- there’s no question he’s going to serve time. The only question is whether it should be consecutive to any other time that he may be doing.

Considering the position of how this thing came about, the vic -- the position that the defendant was in and the position this young person was in, defendant was the teacher.

He had control over his action. He had control over some young peo -- some young people that were his students. In this case, unfortunately, the young person in this case the person that he selected.

That is dangerous. This young person was looking to him for emotional support, educational support, not ruin [his] life. Because that’s going to be staying with this young person for the rest of [his] life.

. . . .

So the State ha[s] every right to ask for consecutive years considering the seriousness of -- of what happened here as she [the prosecutor] stated on the record. She has every right to ask for.

And considering the nature of this thing, this is what -- the Court’s going to sentence you to . . . 30 years. 30, open term of 30 years based on the factors under -- under 706-606 and as stated by the prosecutor on for [sic] the record. Those are the factors that this Court has to consider[.]

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That was the court’s consecutive sentencing rationale. The

court discussed the teacher-student relationship and the

emotional harm to Luke. It never mentioned count 3’s distinct

conduct — that Bunag recorded the sexual assaults and

disseminated the videos. It did not address Bunag’s history and

characteristics beyond his role as teacher. It did not discuss

deterrence, public safety, rehabilitation, or sentencing

disparity. And when it was time to connect its reasoning to the

consecutive sentence, the court deferred to the prosecutor: “as

stated by the prosecutor on for the record.”

On August 8, 2024, Bunag filed a notice of appeal. Four

days later, the circuit court issued a written order granting

the State’s oral motion for consecutive sentencing. The State

drafted the order. The court adopted it verbatim.

The order tried to mop up the court’s slim treatment of the

HRS § 706-606 (2014) factors, including its near silence on the

“history and characteristics of the defendant.” See HRS § 706-

606(1). The order addressed ground the court did not cover at

sentencing - the videos, the dissemination, Bunag’s background,

and the full range of statutory factors.

The ICA affirmed, relying extensively on this post-

sentencing, post-appeal order.

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III.

A court exceeds the presumptive statutory maximum sentence

when it imposes a consecutive sentence. See HRS § 706-668.5(1)

(Supp. 2022); Lewi, 145 Hawaiʻi at 350, 452 P.3d at 347.

Lengthening terms of imprisonment beyond the max extends

the restraint on a person’s liberty. Years, sometimes decades,

are added to time behind bars.

Look at extended term sentencing. It doubles a maximum

sentence for B and C felonies, enhances A felonies to life, and

life sentences to life without the possibility of parole. See

HRS §§ 706-660 (2014 & Supp. 2016), 706-661 (2014).

Consecutive term sentencing operates similarly. Sometimes,

an aggregate consecutive sentence more than doubles the

presumptive maximum. See State v. Barrios, 139 Hawaiʻi 321, 327-

28, 389 P.3d 916, 922-23 (2016) (consecutive sentences totaling

100 years of imprisonment). Yet unlike extended term sentencing

(jury trial, charging document notice, “necessary for the

protection of the public” findings beyond a reasonable doubt),

consecutive sentencing has limited procedural protections. See

HRS § 706-664 (2014).

Sure, a sentencing court has discretion to impose

consecutive sentences. But that discretion is bounded. It is

constrained by the statutory presumption of concurrent sentences

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and our requirement that courts clearly articulate reasons to

depart from that presumption.

We continue this court’s march, from Hussein through Kong

and Barrios to Bautista. Trial courts must support any

consecutive sentence with clear and comprehensive reasons on the

record.

This is not new. “Courts ‘must state on the record at the

time of sentencing the reasons for imposing a consecutive

sentence.’” Bautista, 153 Hawaiʻi at 290, 535 P.3d at 1035

(emphasis added) (quoting Hussein, 122 Hawaiʻi at 510, 229 P.3d

at 328); see also Barrios, 139 Hawaiʻi at 333, 389 P.3d at 928.

That did not happen here.

The ICA leaned on the court’s August 12, 2024 written order

to uphold the consecutive sentence. It pointed to the order’s

discussion of Bunag’s law-abiding life, his supportive family,

education, and past positive interactions with children as

evidence the court had covered Bunag’s history and

characteristics. However, the court did not discuss any of this

at sentencing.

The ICA also flagged the order’s discussion of Bunag’s

dissemination of the videos, and Luke’s fear that others had

seen them. Based on the order, the ICA concluded that the

sentencing court had considered the separate and distinct harms

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of counts 1 and 3. The court, though, made no mention of this at

sentencing.

Post-sentencing written findings and conclusions to justify

a consecutive sentence are not reasons “on the record at the

time of sentencing.” Hussein, 122 Hawaiʻi at 510, 229 P.3d at

328. So the court’s order, filed after Bunag appealed, is off

limits to salvage a consecutive sentencing decision.

The on-the-record requirement serves dual purposes. First,

in-court reasons ensure that the court has engaged in the proper

analysis before imposing the sentence, not after. Second,

providing this reasoning “confirm[s] for the defendant, the

victim, the public, and the appellate court, that the decision

to impose consecutive sentences was deliberate, rational, and

fair.” State v. Kong, 131 Hawaiʻi 94, 102, 315 P.3d 720, 728

(2013) (quoting Hussein, 122 Hawaiʻi at 509-10, 229 P.3d at 327-

28).

A post-sentencing order cannot mend what was missing from

the hearing. If it could, the on-the-record requirement would

be meaningless. Any court could impose a sentence, wait, and

then file findings to backfill its rationale. That is not how

consecutive sentencing works. And when the written order is

drafted by the prosecution and adopted verbatim by the court

after the defendant has already appealed, the problem is

compounded.

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The ICA erred by relying on the August 12, 2024 order to

affirm Bunag’s sentence.

There’s another flaw with the circuit court’s sentence.

Even setting the order aside, the court inadequately stated its

reasons for imposing the consecutive sentence. It “gave a

suboptimal explanation for [the] consecutive sentence.”

Bautista, 153 Hawaiʻi at 290–91, 535 P.3d at 1035–36.

Concurrent sentences are the default. Lewi, 145 Hawaiʻi at

350, 452 P.3d at 347. To depart from that presumption, the

court must consider the HRS § 706-606 factors and “adequately

distinguish between the need for consecutive sentences and the

sentence a defendant ‘would have received under the presumption

of concurrent sentencing.’” Bautista, 153 Hawaiʻi at 290, 535

P.3d at 1035 (quoting Lewi, 145 Hawaiʻi at 351, 452 P.3d at 348).

The court’s rationale must be “tethered to each consecutive

sentence.” Id. at 291, 535 P.3d at 1036. “Stacking sentences

after merely reciting a case’s circumstances is an abuse of

discretion.” Id.

Here, the circuit court reviewed the facts concerning “the

nature and circumstances of the offense.” But what sentencing

court doesn’t? Every sentencing court does. After all, the

“nature and circumstances” of the crime is why the defendant

stands before the court in the first place.

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The circuit court overwhelmingly relied on the HRS § 706-

606(1) nature and circumstances of the offense factor. During

the sentencing hearing, the court stated that it “[c]onsider[ed]

the position of how this thing came about, the vic -- the

position that the defendant was in and the position this young

person was in, defendant was the teacher.” The court discussed

Bunag’s control over the victim, the “danger” inherent in the

teacher-student dynamic, and the lasting harm to Luke. These

remarks address the nature and circumstances of the offense, the

primary HRS § 706-606 factor, and one discussed at every

sentencing hearing. See HRS § 706-606(1).

That’s not necessarily off base. HRS § 706-606(1) involves

the offense itself. And is the foremost factor courts rely on.

But the court discussed the teacher-student relationship, and

the emotional harm to Luke, then stopped.

Weighty considerations, no question. Still, they explain

why Bunag deserved a lengthy sentence - not why a consecutive

term was necessary on top of the concurrent presumption. Courts

should discuss the “nature and circumstances” at least in

general terms in every case. When that’s all a court offers,

though, it’s the type of mere recitation we rejected in

Bautista. 153 Hawaiʻi at 291, 535 P.3d at 1036.

The court failed to articulate facts supporting why it ran

count 3 (promoting child abuse in the second degree)

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consecutively to count 1 (continuous sexual assault of a minor).

Not once did the court mention that Bunag recorded and

disseminated videos of the sexual assault. No reference by the

court in court at all. That omission matters because discussing

the “nature and circumstances” of the “same event” involving

multiple counts is inadequate. Id. Courts must do more to

articulate the different counts, and why together, in the

court’s view, those separate counts need to run consecutively.

See id.

The ICA seemed to think that the court also considered the

“‘seriousness’ of Bunag’s offenses” under HRS § 706-606(2)(a).

The court’s general comment that the State had the right to

request consecutive sentencing based on the “seriousness [of]

what happened here,” though, was equally inadequate. It did not

otherwise explain why the presumptive twenty-year concurrent

sentence would be insufficient to reflect the seriousness of the

offense under HRS § 706-606(2)(a). See HRS § 706-606(2)(a)

(“The need for the sentence imposed[] . . . [t]o reflect the

seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for law, and to

provide just punishment for the offense[.]”). Nor did the court

separately explain why the ten-year term in count 3, as opposed

to the five-year term in count 4, ran consecutively rather than

concurrently. See Bautista, 153 Hawaiʻi at 290, 535 P.3d at 1035

(courts must “provide clearly articulated reasons for ‘each and

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every consecutive sentence’”) (quoting State v. Sandoval, 149

Hawaiʻi 221, 236, 487 P.3d 308, 323 (2021).

Then there’s the outsourcing problem. The court told Bunag

it was sentencing him “based on the factors under -- under 706-

606 and as stated by the prosecutor on for the record.”

(Emphasis added.) The court did not articulate its own

conclusions. Instead, it endorsed the State’s position: “the

State ha[s] every right to ask for consecutive years considering

the seriousness of -- of what happened here as [the prosecutor]

stated on the record.” (Emphasis added.)

A court’s what-she-said approach at the sentencing hearing

is not the independent analysis our case law demands. The court

must articulate its rationale on the record to ensure that its

sentencing call was “deliberate, rational, and fair.” Hussein,

122 Hawaiʻi at 510, 229 P.3d at 328.

Adopting a prosecutor’s argument is not analysis. It

leaves the court’s own HRS § 706-606 reasoning unstated. The

reasons to justify a sentencing decision that overcomes a

statutorily presumed maximum cannot be outsourced.

The court must state its rationale in its own words. The

presumption that a sentencing court has considered all HRS

§ 706-606 factors does not excuse the court from articulating

its reasoning, especially for consecutive sentencing. See

Barrios, 139 Hawaiʻi at 333, 389 P.3d at 928 (“Absent clear

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evidence to the contrary, it is presumed that a sentencing court

will have considered all factors before imposing concurrent or

consecutive terms of imprisonment under HRS § 706–606.”)

(citation omitted). The HRS § 706-606 factors are not a

checklist to mouth at sentencing. The statute calls for

something more. The focus must be on how the factors support a

sentence beyond the concurrent default.

Not every HRS § 706-606 factor must be discussed on the

record. See id. But the relevant factors and reasoning the

court bases its consecutive sentencing on must be stated on the

record. See id. Here, the circuit court did not connect its

recited factors to its consecutive sentencing reasoning. It

abused its discretion.

IV.

We vacate the ICA’s November 5, 2025 Judgment on Appeal and

the circuit court’s July 10, 2024 Judgment of Conviction and

Sentence to the extent it ordered consecutive sentencing. We

remand to the circuit court for resentencing.

Henry P. Ting /s/ Sabrina S. McKenna (on the briefs) for petitioner /s/ Todd W. Eddins

Loren J. Thomas /s/ Lisa M. Ginoza (on the briefs) for respondent /s/ Vladimir P. Devens

/s/ Michelle L. Drewyer