State v. Eli

273 P.3d 1196, 126 Haw. 510, 2012 WL 1320167, 2012 Haw. LEXIS 106
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedApril 13, 2012
DocketSCAP-30420
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 273 P.3d 1196 (State v. Eli) 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. Eli, 273 P.3d 1196, 126 Haw. 510, 2012 WL 1320167, 2012 Haw. LEXIS 106 (haw 2012).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA, J.

We hold in this case that after arrest the police practice of inviting an arrestee to make a statement and to give his or her “side of the story” or similar entreaties in a “pre-interview” before Miranda warnings are given, violates the defendant’s right against self-incrimination, article I, section 10,1 and right to due process, article I, section 52 of the Hawai’i Constitution. Further, we hold that under the circumstances of this case the Mirandized statement offered into evidence at trial resulted from the exploitation of the said pre-interview practice. The Miranda warnings subsequently given did not remove the “taint” of such practice. Accordingly, on the grounds set forth herein, we vacate the March 4, 2010 judgment of conviction and sentence filed by the circuit court of the first circuit (the court)3 adjudging Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Pulumata’ala Eli (Defendant) guilty of attempted manslaughter, and remand for a new trial.

I.

The following essential matters, some verbatim, are from the record and the submissions of the parties.

Defendant was arrested on October 27, 2007, for assaulting and seriously injuring his seven-month-old daughter on October 24, 2007, while inside a minivan at Ala Moana Beach Park. He was transported to the police station, where he gave a statement about the incident. He was indicted on October 31, 2007, by Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai’i (the prosecution or the State) for attempted murder in the second degree, with the special circumstance that his daughter was eight years of age or younger, Hawai’i Revised Statutes (HRS) §§ 705-500 (1993),4 [514]*514707-701.5 (1993),5 and 706-656 (Supp.2007).6

On June 9, 2009, the prosecution filed a “Motion to Determine Voluntariness of Defendant’s Statement,” so that Defendant’s statement could be used at trial. The prosecution’s motion stated, inter alia, that “[a] defendant’s statement may not be received into evidence until the prosecution shows that the defendant was warned of his Miranda rights, that the defendant waived these rights, and that the statement was voluntarily made.” (Citing State v. Kreps, 4 Haw.App. 72, 76-77, 661 P.2d 711, 714-15 (1983).)7 A hearing was held on June 12, 2009, in which the interviewing Detective (Detective) of the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) testified, as follows, about the circumstances in which Defendant gave his statement.

Defendant had agreed to turn himself in on October 26, 2007, but, instead of doing so, left a message with Detective, stating that he would turn himself in the next afternoon at Kapiolani Hospital.8 Defendant was met at the hospital the next day by the police, arrested, and brought to the main police station.

At the station, Detective met Defendant in an interview room at the central receiving desk and explained to him that he was under arrest for assaulting his daughter. Detective testified that during this encounter he asked Defendant if he wanted to give a statement and “may have mentioned to him that, you know, it’s a chance to give me his side of the story.” Detective stated that he did not imply to Defendant that by hearing his side of the story things might change. Apparently, Defendant agreed to make a statement at this point.

Detective then activated his tape recorder and used an HPD-81 form to advise Defendant of his constitutional rights. Defendant had a copy of the form in front of him as Detective read it out loud. Detective testified that he informed Defendant of his right to remain silent, his right to terminate the interview at any time, his right to stop answering questions, his right to an attorney, his right to have an attorney appointed by the court if he could not afford one, his right to consult with an attorney and have an attorney present during the questioning, and that anything he said could be used against him at [515]*515trial. According to Detective’s testimony, Defendant responded to the questions asked and did not seem to have any problem understanding what was occurring. Detective stated that he asked Defendant if he wanted an attorney, to which Defendant responded, “No, not now[.]” Defendant filled out the HPD-81 form and waived his Miranda rights.

Detective then began questioning Defendant, and obtained a taped statement from Defendant. In the taped statement, Defendant told Detective that on the day of the incident, he had been “trying to work things out” with his girlfriend in their minivan at Ala Moana Beach Park. Defendant said he was frustrated at the time, and that his daughter, who was sitting in the back seat, would not stop crying. He stated that he hit his daughter on the feet and slapped her on the head four times. Defendant then told Detective that he took his daughter out of her car seat and dropped her by accident. He subsequently admitted to throwing his daughter on the ear seat “[f]aee first” two times.

After hearing Detective’s testimony, the court determined Defendant’s statement was “voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly made,” rendering Defendant’s statement admissible at trial. Following the voluntariness hearing, Defendant’s jury trial began.

On June 19, 2009, during the proceedings, defense counsel notified the court that there was a second HPD-81 form completed on October 28, 2007, the day after Detective first interviewed Defendant, in which Defendant refused to waive his Miranda rights.9 Defense counsel asked the deputy prosecuting attorney (DPA) for a recording of the event on October 28, 2007, but the DPA informed defense counsel that no recording existed. The court excused the jury and held a hearing to allow defense counsel to question Detective, in court, about the second HPD-81 form.

Detective again testified that, on October 27, 2007, prior to obtaining the taped statement referred to swpra, he had a conversátion with Defendant before giving Defendant his Miranda warnings. During that conversation, “[Detective] asked [Defendant] if he wanted to give [Detective] a statement[,]” and Defendant “agreed to give [Detective] a statement^]” When asked by Defendant’s counsel, “But the whole purpose of giving the Miranda warning is so that he can decide whether he wants to give you a statement or not[,]” Detective replied that he “didn’t ask [Defendant] any questions about the case.” Detective acknowledged that on October 27 he had explained to Defendant that it was “[Defendant’s] chance to give his side of the story.”

Also, Detective agreed he had obtained “a waiver” before administering the Miranda warnings. The relevant testimony is as follows:

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Did you have any conversation with
[Defendant] prior to turning on the tape recorder on the statement that you took between 1825 hours to 1900 hours on the 27th or did you ask him whether he was willing to give a statement before you turned on the tape recorder ?
[DETECTIVE:] Fes. Yes.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And he said yes?
[DETECTIVE:] Yes, he was willing to give a statement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
273 P.3d 1196, 126 Haw. 510, 2012 WL 1320167, 2012 Haw. LEXIS 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-eli-haw-2012.