State v. Owens

172 P.3d 484, 116 Haw. 172, 2007 Haw. LEXIS 346
Hawaii Supreme Court·Decided November 19, 2007·No. 27714·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA, J.

Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Charlie Owens, Jr. (Petitioner) filed an application for writ of certiorari on July 12, 2007, requesting that this court review the April 13, 2007 judgment of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (the ICA), issued pursuant to its February 5, 2007 opinion 1 that affirmed the December 20, 2005 Revocation of Probation; Order of Resentencing of the Family Court of the First Circuit 2 (the court), and its January 10, 2006 Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order Denying Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Violation of Hawai'i Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 9, except that Conclusions of Law Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 were vacated because they were wrong. State v. Owens, 113 Hawai'i 472, 477, 155 P.3d 655, 660 (App.2007). Petitioner’s application was accepted on August 10, 2007, and oral argument was heard on October 31, 2007.

Petitioner presents the following question in his application:

Whether, despite its recognition that under State v. Mageo, 78 Hawai'i 33, 889 P.2d 1092 (App.l995)[,] and State v. Lei, 95 Hawai'i 278, 21 P.3d 880 (2001), Rule 9(c)(3)(i) of the [HRPP] clearly requires [Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai'i (Respondent) ] to serve a bench warrant on a probationer “without unnecessary delay,” the ICA gravely erred in affirming the order revoking [Petitioner’s] probation based on the erroneous conclu- • sions that the alleged violation of the terms and conditions of probation, which are alleged to have preceded the issuance of the bench warrant, amounted to “periods of necessanj delay in service and in the absence of any factual record to support the conclusion that [Petitioner] had violated a substantial condition of probation.

(Emphasis added.) 3

We hold, respectfully, that the ICA’s April 13, 2007 judgment issued pursuant to its February 5, 2007 opinion is reversed, because (1) HRPP Rule 9 requires Respondent to serve warrants in both pre-conviction and post-conviction contexts without unnecessary delay, (2) Respondent’s delay of nearly five years in serving Petitioner with a bench warrant for his arrest amounted to an unnecessary delay under HRPP Rule 9 where Petitioner was available for service in the jurisdiction of this state over the period of non-service, there was no evidence that Petitioner intentionally avoided service, and there was no evidence that attempts had been made by Respondent to serve Petitioner over the nearly five-year period, and (3) Respondent’s duty to comply with HRPP Rule 9 in the service of the bench warrant is not excused by Petitioner’s failure to obey a *174 court order that resulted in the issuance of the bench warrant.

I.

On February 20, 2001, Petitioner was charged by complaint with Abuse of Family and Household Members, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 709-906 (Supp.2001). He pled guilty on the same day and was sentenced to one year probation, inter alia, and ordered to appear on February 21, 2001, for an intake interview at the Adult Services Branch (ASB).

Petitioner failed to report to the ASB on February 21, 2001, for the intake interview. The ASB then mailed him a Noneompliance Report, which said Petitioner was “hereby requested to be present at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the 13th day of March 2001” at the ASB. The ASB letter was returned, stamped “RETURN TO SENDER,” and the phrase “no longer at this address” was written on the envelope.

Respondent then filed a “Motion for Revocation of Probation, Resentencing and Issuance of Bench Warrant” (MRP) on March 27, 2001, when Petitioner did not appear at the ASB and did not notify his probation officer of any address change. On the same day, the court issued a bench warrant for Petitioner’s arrest. The bench warrant was stamped “URGENT SERVICE NEEDED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.” Despite this statement, no attempts were made to serve the bench warrant on Petitioner from March 27, 2001, to November 28, 2005. The warrant was served on Petitioner on November 28, 2005, on Maui, four years and eight months later.

On December 15, 2005, Petitioner filed a motion to dismiss for violation of HRPP Rule 9.

According to Petitioner the following procedural matters took place:

[T]wo separate matters concerning [Petitioner were] set for hearing in the [fjamily [c]ourt on December 20, 2006. The first hearing addressed [Petitioner’s] Motion to Dismiss for Violation of HRPP Rule 9, filed December 15, 2005. The subsequent hearing addressed [Respondent’s] Motion for Revocation of Probation, Resentencing and Issuance of Bench Warrant, filed March 27, 2001. [Petitioner’s] Motion to Dismiss was heard first because, if granted, it would have dismissed [Respondent’s m]otion....
During the hearing on [Petitioner’s Motion to Dismiss], there were no witnesses called, no sworn testimony taken and the court did not take judicial notice of anything.

(Emphases added.) Petitioner states that the court’s decision was rendered as follows:

In its decision the court stated, “I guess the dates would be stipulated by the parties since there’s no—there’s no disagreement about dates and also there’s no disagreement that [Petitioner] was at least present in the jurisdiction and that they made—no attempts were made to serve that probation revocation motion on [Petitioner] during that period of time.” The dates later reduced to written findings were 1) February 20, 2001, when [Petitioner] was sentenced to one-year probation, 2) March 27, 2001, when [Respondent] filed a Motion for Revocation of Probation, Resentencing, and Issuance of a Bench Warrant and 3) November 28, 2005, when [Petitioner] was finally served with the warrant. In its written [conclusions of law (conclusions) ], the [court] held that 1) HRPP Rule 9’s language indicated that it only applies in the pre-conviction context, 2) HRPP Rule 9’s placement within the HRPP indicates it only applies pre-convietion, 3) [Petitioner’s] matter was a post-conviction proceeding, 4) [HRS] § 706-627’s tolling of probation provision logically dictates that HRPP Rule 9 does not apply to probation proceedings^] and 5) [Mageo] and [Lei] ... do not applyi.]

(Emphases added.)

On December 20, 2005, the court denied Petitioner’s Motion to Dismiss for violation of HRPP Rule 9. HRPP Rule 9 states in relevant part that “[t]he warrant shall be executed without unnecessary delay by the arrest *175 of the defendant.” 4

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State v. Owens, 172 P.3d 484, 116 Haw. 172, 2007 Haw. LEXIS 346 (haw 2007).

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