State v. Hogue

486 P.2d 403, 52 Haw. 660, 1971 Haw. LEXIS 139
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedJune 15, 1971
Docket4987
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 486 P.2d 403 (State v. Hogue) 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. Hogue, 486 P.2d 403, 52 Haw. 660, 1971 Haw. LEXIS 139 (haw 1971).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

MARUMOTO, J.

Defendant was convicted after a jury trial in the circuit court of knowingly possessing marihuana in violation of HES § 329-5. The portion of the statute relevant to this case reads as follows:

“§ 329-5. Additional acts prohibited; penalty. No person shall knowingly plant, cultivate, produce, manufacture, possess, have under his control, prescribe, administer, or compound any narcotic drug as defined by section 329-1 except as provided in this chapter. Any person found guilty of any of the foregoing acts shall be imprisoned at hard labor not more than five years [661]*661for the first offense and imprisoned at bard labor not more than ten years for any subsequent offense; provided that, every person wbo possesses any marijuana, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year, or for not less than one year nor more than five years.”

The proviso in the statute was added by S.L.H. 1969, c. 161. It grants to the circuit court discretionary power to treat possession of marihuana either as a felony or as a misdemeanor. This was defendant’s first conviction for the offense. So, the court treated the violation as a misdemeanor, placed the defendant under probation for one year and imposed upon him a fine of $100.

The case was submitted to the jury upon the following stipulation of facts:

“That the State is able to prove by the testimony of the three arresting officers, upon the trial of Gregory Dale Hogue, that the defendant Gregory Dale Hogue on or about the 5th day of March, 1970, in the County of Kauai, State of Hawaii, did then and there at the invitation of a friend, one Charles Glagolich, who was the owner of a pipe containing marihuana in hashish form while sitted at a picnic table at Lydgate Park with Mr. Glagolich and three other friends, Stephanie Kay Stearns, Johnny Kay Griffith and Georgia Marie Shannon, did knowingly take two puffs from a pipe containing marihuana in hashish form.
“That the three officers will testify that, prior to the arrest, they observed Charles Glagolich turn over a pipe containing marihuana in hashish form to one Stephanie Kay Steams, who after a couple of puffs turned it over to one Johnny Ray Griffith, who after a couple of puffs turned it over to defendant Gregory Dale Hogue. That defendant Gregory Dale Hogue was observed by the three arresting officers with a hashish [662]*662pipe in bis hands, no one else was holding it, and did take two puffs from said pipe knowing it to contain marihuana in hashish form. That after the pipe had been passed and the actions were observed by the three arresting officers, defendant together with his friends were placed under arrest for unlawful possession or control of marihuana. Defendants were properly advised of their constitutional rights.
“That the State’s contention is that the offense committed by defendant Gregory Dale Hogue is the knowingly taking of two puffs from a pipe containing marihuana in hashish form owned by one Charles Gla-golich. Defendant, if called, will testify that he took only one puff from said pipe.
“That the residue within the pipe was analyzed by Dr. Quentin Belles. Said analysis revealed an oily residue which a chemical test showed was charred marihuana.”

The defense counsel entered into the stipulation with the full understanding of the defendant. The record shows the following colloquy between the court and the defendant :

“THE COURT: Mr. Hogue, do you agree with the stipulation of facts?
“DEPENDANT: Yes, your honor, I do.”

Among the instructions given by the circuit court to the jury were the following:

“If counsel for the parties have stipulated to any fact, you are to regard that fact as being conclusively proved.
* * # *
“Hawaii statutes do not state that smoking marihuana, per se, is legal or illegal. It does state that possession or control of marihuana, in its various forms, is illegal.
[663]*663“Considering the totality of the circumstances, a person may smoke marihuana without ‘possessing’ or ‘controlling’ it, or he may smoke marihuana in such a way that he does have possession or control over it.
“To ‘possess’ means to have the actual control, care and management of the marihuana (hashish), and not a passing control fleeting and shadowy in its nature.”

On this appeal, no trial error is alleged. The appeal is based on the denial by the circuit court of two motions to dismiss made before the trial under H.E.Cr.P. Rule 12. The motions were renewed at the close of the case for the prosecution, and again at the close of the case for the defendant, in the form of a motion for judgment of acquittal under H.E.Cr.P. Rule 29.

The first motion for dismissal was made on the ground that the mere passing and puffing from a marihuana pipe owned and supplied by another was insufficient as a matter of law to constitute a possession of marihuana proscribed in HRS § 329-5. The stipulation quoted above provided the factual basis for the motion.

The ground for the second motion was that the nature and the quantity of the marihuana residue found in the pipe was so minute as to be insufficient as a matter of law to be capable of the type of possession proscribed by the statute. On this motion the last paragraph of the quoted stipulation was not to be considered. Instead, the motion was submitted upon a factual situation stated in the first three paragraphs of the stipulation, the report of Dr. Quentin Belles to the police department regarding the residue in the pipe from which the defendant took the puff or puffs, and the additional stipulation that Dr. Belles could determine the presence of marihuana in the pipe only by a chemical test and not by any microscopic test.

[664]*664In presenting the first motion to the circuit court, the defense relied on Eckroth v. State, 227 So. 2d 313 (Fla. 1969). That was a case in which a Florida district court of appeal held that the taking of a “drag” from a pipe belonging to another person and filled with marihuana, and passing the pipe on among persons seated in a circle, evinced a mere passing control fleeting and shadowy in nature, and did not constitute sufficient possession to support a conviction for unlawful possession of marihuana.

The case was reversed by the Florida supreme court in State v. Eckroth, 238 So. 2d 75 (Fla. 1970), while this case was on appeal here. The reversal was based upon a reaffirmance of Reynolds v. State, 92 Fla. 1038, 111 So. 285 (1927), a prohibition era case involving unlawful possession of liquor, which defined possession as “conscious and substantial possession * * *, as distinguished from a mere involuntary or superficial possession”, and the application of the definition to the facts in the case.

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Related

State v. Hironaka
53 P.3d 806 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 2002)
United States v. Jefferson
13 M.J. 779 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1982)
State v. Hogue
486 P.2d 403 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
486 P.2d 403, 52 Haw. 660, 1971 Haw. LEXIS 139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hogue-haw-1971.