State v. Paris.

378 P.3d 970, 138 Haw. 254, 2016 Haw. LEXIS 188
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 8, 2016
DocketSCWC-14-0000427
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 378 P.3d 970 (State v. Paris.) 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. Paris., 378 P.3d 970, 138 Haw. 254, 2016 Haw. LEXIS 188 (haw 2016).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court by

McKENNA, J.

I. Introduction

At issue in this appeal is whether Petitioner/D efendant/App ell ant Eugene Paris, Jr. (“Paris”), a furloughee on extended furlough in the community, who failed to check in with his case manager at Laumaka Work Furlough Center (“LWFC”), can be convicted of escape in the second degree, in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (“HRS”) § 710-1021 (2014). We hold that, under the facts of this particular case, failure to check in while on extended furlough is not punishable as escape in the second degree.

HRS § 710-1021 states, “A person commits the offense of escape in the second degree if the person intentionally escapes from a correctional or detention facility or from custody. Escape in the second degree is a class C felony.” The State proceeded on a theory that Paris escaped from “custody” (i.e., not from a correctional or detention facility). HRS § 710-1000 (2014) defines “custody” as “restraint by a public servant pursuant to arrest, detention, or order of a court.”

On certiorari, Paris contends that the ICA gravely erred in affirming his conviction and rejecting his arguments that (1) the charge was deficient for failing to define “custody”; (2) insufficient evidence supported his conviction; and (3) the Circuit Court of the First Circuit1 (“circuit court”) erroneously in[256]*256structed the jury on “custody.” 2 We agree.

Central to this appeal is what constitutes “custody5’ for the purpose of the offense of escape in the second degree. We agree with Paris that the meaning of “custody” shifted throughout the proceedings below. First, the circuit court defined “custody” with reference to our case law; next, the circuit court nevertheless concluded that the term “custody” was a term susceptible to common understanding; lastly, the circuit court stated “custody” meant “confinement.” We have accepted certiorari in this case to clarify that, for purposes of escape in the second degree, “custody” means “restraint by a public servant pursuant to arrest, detention, or order of a court.” HRS § 710-1000.

“Custody,” thus defined, is not “an unmistakable term readily comprehensible to a person of common understanding”; therefore, the statutory definition of “custody” should have been included in the charging instrument. Further, the State was required to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Paris intentionally escaped from custody, as defined in HRS § 710-1000, not just that he violated the terms of his furlough agreement and extended furlough agreement by failing to check in with his LWFC case manager. Lastly, although the circuit court properly instructed the jury on the statutory definition of custody, it also submitted another jury instruction on custody that was inconsistent with the statutory definition, erroneous, and misleading. Due to the insufficiency of the evidence adduced at trial, we reverse the ICA’s September 22, 2015 judgment on appeal and the circuit court’s January 14, 2014 judgment of conviction and sentence.

II. Background

A. The Furlough Agreement

In June 2011, Paris and his case manager, Noel Villanueva; his unit manager, Wendel Yoda; and the Oahu Center Warden, Francis Sequeira, signed and entered into a Furlough Agreement. The Furlough Agreement “define[d] mutual responsibilities and provide[d] an opportunity for [Paris] to demonstrate readiness for parole and to prepare for successful parole or release by establishing or re-establishing family and community ties.” Paris’s Furlough Site was listed as his parents’ Wahiawa home. Under the heading “Part I—Rules and Regulations of the Furlough Agreement,” Paris initialed 35 items (some of which included sub-items).

Complicating our review of whether a fur-loughee’s failure to check in constitutes a crime are provisions in the Furlough Agreement that are unclearly worded but that seem to call for administrative, rather than criminal, consequences for escape. The Furlough Agreement term the State relies upon as the basis for Paris’s escape charge and conviction is Item 9, which provides for “process[ing]” or “listing]” as an “escapee” upon a furioughee’s failure to return to LWFC:

9. I understand and agree that I shall be processed as an escapee if I fall into one or more of the following stipulations:
a. Fail to return to the Laumaka Work Furlough Center (LWFC) or OCCC [Oahu Community Correctional Center] at the designated day and time as stated in this Agreement or on my pass and/or fail to seek permission for an extension of the designated return time.
b. Fail to return to LWFC or OCCC in a timely manner when I am directed to do so regardless of the expiration time stated on the pass.
I further understand that should I be listed, as an escapee under any of the aforementioned conditions, my pass will be deemed null and void.

(Emphasis added.) Under Item 9, the clear consequence for failure to return to LWFC is that the furlough pass is deemed null and void. That is an administrative, not criminal, consequence. Less clear is what occurs when a furloughee is “processed” or “listed” as an “escapee.” Other items in the Furlough Agreement suggest an “escape” is merely an “absentee] without authorization” [257]*257rather than a criminal act, the consequences for which are administrative, rather than criminal:

29. I understand and agree that I will not hold the State of Hawaii, Department of Public Safety, and Oahu Community Correctional Center liable or accountable for any of my property when I am declared absent without authorization (escape).
30. I further understand that my property will be disposed of on the 31st day that I am declared absent without authorization (escape).

(Emphasis added.) Underscoring the interpretation that “escape” is not a criminal act is Item 32, which defines “escape” as presence in off-limits areas of LWFC. The consequence for that type of escape is an “administrative! ] charge! ] as an escapee”:

32. I understand that should I be observed in the inner perimeter of LWFC, I will be administratively charged as an escapee. This is defined as the area from the LWFC’s fence line to the backside of the Modules, the cabled/chained off areas or the landing directly outside of the escape doors. These areas are clearly marked.

(Emphasis added.) In short, the items in the Furlough Agreement expressly referencing escape define escape in administrative, not criminal, terms, and provide for administrative, not criminal, consequences. Further, Item 35, which does not expressly reference escape, reiterates that deviation from the terms of a furlough pass will result in administrative consequences, as follows:

35.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
378 P.3d 970, 138 Haw. 254, 2016 Haw. LEXIS 188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-paris-haw-2016.