State v. McKnight.

319 P.3d 298, 131 Haw. 379, 2013 WL 6860774, 2013 Haw. LEXIS 427
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 2013
DocketSCWC-28901
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 319 P.3d 298 (State v. McKnight.) 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. McKnight., 319 P.3d 298, 131 Haw. 379, 2013 WL 6860774, 2013 Haw. LEXIS 427 (haw 2013).

Opinions

OPINIONS OF THE COURT

INTRODUCTION

On July 24, 2006, Robert J. MeKnight, Jr. (“McKnight”) was charged via indictment with Count 1, Electronic Enticement of a Child in the First Degree, in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (“HRS”) § 707-756 (“Electronic Enticement”), and Count 2, Promoting Child Abuse in the Third Degree, in violation of HRS § 707-752(l)(a). The charges were severed, and the State of Hawaii (“State”) proceeded to trial on Count 1. After a jury trial in the Circuit Court of the Second Circuit (“circuit court”),1 McKnight was convicted of Electronic Enticement.

MeKnight appealed his conviction for Electronic Enticement, and the State cross-appealed the suppression of certain evidence, including a statement made by McKnight after he was arrested and evidence seized from his residence pursuant to a misdated search warrant. Some of this evidence pertained to the untried charge of Promoting Child Abuse in the Third Degree. The Intermediate Court of Appeals (“ICA”) affirmed McKnight’s conviction and vacated the circuit court’s suppression order.

McKnight raises three questions on certio-rari, printed in the order addressed:

[1]. Did the ICA gravely err by disregarding the plain and unambiguous language of a criminal statute and holding that proof that the defendant used a computer or other electronic device was not part of each element of the offense?
2. Did the ICA gravely err in holding that Mr. McKnight waived his right to counsel after he asserted his constitutional and statutory rights and the police made no effort to find a lawyer, denied his right to contact his mother, and wanted to question him further?
[3]. Did the ICA gravely err when it created a new exception to Hawaii’s exclusionary rule by holding that the use of evidence seized pursuant to an invalid warrant does not violate the right to be free from unreasonable searches, seizures, and invasions of privacy guaranteed by the Hawaii Constitution?

Pursuant to the analysis below, we affirm in part and vacate in part the ICA’s Judgment on Appeal, and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

A. Factual Background

The charges against MeKnight stemmed from an undercover investigation conducted by the Department of the Attorney General. [383]*383During the investigation, MeKnight began communicating via internet chat with “Chyla Bautista” (“ ‘Chyla’ ”), a persona created by Special Agent Vincente Domingo (“Agent Domingo”) of the Hawai'i Internet Crimes against Children Task Force. “Chyla” identified herself as a fifteen-year-old girl on 0‘ahu. Over the course of a month, McKnight communicated with “Chyla” via Yahoo!! Messenger (“Yahoo”), email, cellular telephone, and home telephone. During these conversations, McKnight discussed meeting with “Chyla” and performing sexual acts with her. He also emailed “Chyla” photographs of himself and displayed himself to “Chyla” masturbating via webcam.

On July 5, 2006, McKnight communicated with “Chyla” via Yahoo to discuss meeting her in person. McKnight purchased an electronic airline ticket and arranged to fly “Chy-la” from Honolulu to Maui the following day. He provided “Chyla” with the flight information, told her that he would pick her up from the airport, and gave her a description of his ear. On July 6, 2006, the Maui Police Department and the Hawai'i Attorney General’s Office observed McKnight’s car entering Ka-hului Airport at the scheduled arrival time and placed McKnight under arrest for electronic enticement of a child.

At the Wailuku Police Station, Agent Domingo advised MeKnight of his Miranda rights and asked him to complete a constitutional rights form (AG Form CR-1). McKnight stated that he wanted an attorney and init-ialled ‘Tes” next to a question that read “Do you want an attorney now?” Agent Domingo ceased the interview and left the room to confer with Agent Woletta Kim (“Agent Kim”) regarding whether he could ask McKnight for a description of his residence. The agents, who intended to obtain a search warrant for the residence, concluded that such questioning was permissible because it did not involve interrogating MeKnight about the ease. Agent Domingo returned to the interview room minutes later with the intention of further questioning McKnight.

When Agent Domingo re-entered the room, MeKnight asked to call his mother, but Agent Domingo denied the request.2 MeKnight asked what was going to happen next, and Agent Domingo responded, “[W]e are going to do a search warrant on [your] residence.”3 At that point, MeKnight stated that he had changed his mind about giving a statement because he had not realized the severity of the crime.

As Agent Domingo began tape-recording their dialogue, however, McKnight again asked if he could call his mother. Agent Domingo responded that he could not promise anything, and it was entirely MeKnight’s decision whether he wanted to give a statement. The transcript reveals the following exchange:

Robert J. McKnight, Jr.: .... Now, will— after this is done, will you allow me to call my mother?
Special Agent Domingo: Again, I’m not going to promise you anything. [ ] If you want to give a statement or not, that’s strictly up to you.... I can’t promise you anything. There’s no promises or guarantees, okay, at this stage.
Robert J. McKnight, Jr.: Okay.
Special Agent Domingo: Do you still want to talk to me?
Robert J. McKnight, Jr.: Not unless I go let my mother know.
Special Agent Domingo: Again, I can’t promise you anything .... I can’t say, okay, I will—I will let you do this if you give me a statement.... There’s no promises, no guarantees. If you want to give me a statement—like you told me that, you know, you changed your mind because you didn’t realize the severity of the crime, then fine. But, again, I can’t promise you anything. You have got to tell me what you want to do, Robert.
[384]*384Robert J. McKnight, Jr.: Go ahead.
[[Image here]]
Special Agent Domingo: Go ahead what? Robert J. McKnight, Jr.: Continue.

(Emphasis added).

When McKnight agreed to continue, Agent Domingo presented him with a second constitutional rights form, on which McKnight indicated that he did not want an attorney and that he wanted to give a statement. After McKnight completed this form, Agent Domingo proceeded to question McKnight about his conversations with “Chyla” and his intention to meet with her.

That afternoon, Agent Domingo prepared a search warrant for McKnight’s residence and vehicle. He presented the warrant application and his affidavit to Judge Simone Polak of the District Court of the Second Circuit. After finding probable cause, Judge Polak signed the warrant, which authorized agents to search McKnight’s residence and vehicle for evidence of Electronic Enticement, and to seize computers and electronic storage media (e.g., hard drives, modems, digital files, electronically stored records, computer programs, and photographic equipment).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
319 P.3d 298, 131 Haw. 379, 2013 WL 6860774, 2013 Haw. LEXIS 427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcknight-haw-2013.