State v. Gilroy

CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 7, 2021
DocketCAAP-20-0000078
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Gilroy (State v. Gilroy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gilroy, (hawapp 2021).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 07-JUN-2021 07:53 AM Dkt. 135 MO NOS. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX AND CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WILLIAM M. GILROY, also known as William of the Family Gilroy, William Michael Gilroy, Jr., William Michael Gilroy, W.M. Gilroy, and William Michael Gilroy, Jr., Defendant-Appellee

AND

CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellee, and PAUL R. MOW, Real Party-in-Interest-Appellant, v. WILLIAM M. GILROY, also known as William of the Family Gilroy, William Michael Gilroy, Jr., William Michael Gilroy, W.M. Gilroy, and William Michael Gilroy, Jr., Defendant-Appellee

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 3CPC-18-000893)

MEMORANDUM OPINION (By: Ginoza, Chief Judge, Leonard and Hiraoka, JJ.)

In this consolidated appeal, Plaintiff-Appellant State of Hawai#i (State) and Real Party in Interest-Appellant Deputy Attorney General Paul R. Mow (Mow) (collectively Appellants)1 appeal from the "Order Dismissing Charges Pursuant to Hawai#i [sic] Revised Statutes § 704-406 and Releasing Defendant From the Custody of the Director of Health" filed on January 30, 2020 and the "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order Imposing Rule 15 [Hawai#i Rules of the Circuit Courts] Sanctions Against

1 Mow filed a Notice of Appeal on February 18, 2020 in CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX as the Real Party in Interest with respect to the order imposing sanctions. This court consolidated the appeals under CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

[Mow]" (Sanction Order) filed on May 22, 2019, in the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit (Circuit Court).2 On appeal, Appellants contend that the Circuit Court: (1) erred by setting and holding a hearing on a motion to stay filed by pro se Defendant-Appellee William M. Gilroy (Gilroy)3 while the proceedings were suspended; (2) erred in finding Mow violated Rules of the Circuit Courts of the State of Hawai#i (RCCSH) Rule 15(b);4 (3) abused its discretion by sanctioning Mow $500; (4) violated Mow's due process rights by increasing the sanction from four hours of community service to $500 after Mow exercised his right to a hearing; and (5) erred in making Findings of Fact (FOFs) 15, 29, 50, 66, and 67. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the Sanction Order and remand for further proceedings. I. Background On November 21, 2018, Gilroy was charged with 29 counts of Unauthorized Practice of Law, in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §§ 605-14, 605-15, 605-17, and 702-204. On January 17, 2019, Gilroy failed to appear for his arraignment and plea and the Circuit Court entered a bench warrant for his arrest.5 During a hearing on March 22, 2019, the State argued there was more than sufficient reason to doubt Gilroy's fitness to proceed and moved the Circuit Court for an examination

2 The Honorable Melvin H. Fujino presided. 3 On August 20, 2020, the appellate clerk filed a notice of default of the answering brief, informing Gilroy that the time for filing his answering brief expired. Although Gilroy sought relief from default and was given the opportunity to file an answering brief, Gilroy again failed to file a timely answering brief and the appellate clerk filed a second notice of default of the answering brief. 4 RCCSH Rule 15(b) provides:

(b) Effect of failure to appear. An attorney who, without just cause, fails to appear when his case is before the court on a call or motion or on pre trial or trial, or unjustifiably fails to prepare for a presentation to the court necessitating a continuance, may be subject to such discipline as the court deems appropriate. 5 It appears that although Gilroy was physically present for the arraignment and plea, he refused to state his name for the record.

2 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

pursuant to HRS § 704-404 (Supp. 2016) to determine whether Gilroy was fit to proceed. The Circuit Court granted the State's request for an examination, set a hearing for May 30, 2019, and entered an "Order Suspending Proceedings, for Examination of [Gilroy] Under HRS Chapter 704 and for Transport" (Order Suspending Proceedings). On March 28, 2019, Gilroy filed a "Motion to Stay Execution of '[Order Suspending Proceedings]' Pending Appeal" (Motion to Stay), which contained a handwritten notation that a hearing was set for April 18, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. In this Motion to Stay, Gilroy sought, inter alia,6 to stay the Order Suspending Proceedings and his fitness examination pending an appeal to this court.7 On April 2, 2019, Gilroy filed seven documents, six of which were notices of counterclaim for alleged damages. These six documents did not indicate a hearing date. The last document Gilroy filed on April 2, 2019 was a "Notice for 'Telephonic Conference Call'" in which Gilroy appears to cite Hawai#i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 16.1(c)(1)8 to notify the State of his appearance by telephone and demands the Circuit Court allow him to appear by telephone for the April 18, 2019 hearing. On April 10, 2019, Gilroy filed three additional documents which indicate a hearing on April 18, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. (April 10, 2019 documents).9

6 We recognize that Gilroy's submissions are often difficult to discern and contain a fair amount of extraneous material. 7 On March 28, 2019, Gilroy had also filed a notice of appeal from the Order Suspending Proceedings, which created appellate case no. CAAP-19- 0000421. Subsequently, on September 26, 2019, this court dismissed CAAP-19- 0000421 for lack of appellate jurisdiction. 8 Gilroy mistakenly cites to HRCP Rules although this case involves criminal charges against Gilroy. 9 The April 10, 2019 documents are Gilroy's "Affidavit of Notice of Fraud by Public Servants at Court of March 22, 2019 A.D." "Notice of Failure of Competency of Deputy [Attorney General] to Provide Postage for Service of Instruments" and "Counts 1-29 Jury Instructions".

3 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Thus, of the eleven documents filed by Gilroy between March 28, 2019 and April 10, 2019, five appear to indicate a hearing on April 18, 2019. During the April 18, 2019 hearing, Gilroy appeared in person. Mow appeared by telephone and stated, "Your Honor, if we're proceeding with the motion today I do believe I need to be present. My understanding was today was a status. I was not aware that it was a motion." The Circuit Court questioned Mow as follows: THE COURT: How would you -- how did you think that this is a motion to stay -- ah, status when -- Mr. Gilroy, you filed your motion on March 28, 2019; is that correct?

MR. GILROY: Yes. Thank you.

THE COURT: And then in your motion you have a Notice of Motion on page 24 of 24?

MR. GILROY: Yes. Thank you. MR. MOW: Two things, Your Honor. First of all, I believe proceedings are suspended. Second -- THE COURT: Wait. Wait, wait.

MR. MOW: -- I attempted to call your office -- THE COURT: Wait. Hey, wait. So how did you think that you could appear by phone today? What notice or proof -- wait. What proof do you have that this was a status hearing and not a motion filed by Mr. Gilroy? MR. MOW: Your Honor, my recollection of the documents that was filed by Mr. Gilroy -- actually had said somewhere that it was in reference to a status by phone.

THE COURT: Where is that? Where is that in the motion? MR. MOW: I don't have the doc -- I don't have the document in front of me, Your Honor.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Adam
40 P.3d 877 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 2002)
Enos v. Pacific Transfer & Warehouse, Inc.
903 P.2d 1273 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Castillon.
443 P.3d 98 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 2019)
Wong v. Frank
833 P.2d 85 (Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Gilroy, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gilroy-hawapp-2021.