State v. Reyes

545 P.3d 577, 154 Haw. 88
CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 28, 2024
DocketCAAP-22-0000732
StatusPublished

This text of 545 P.3d 577 (State v. Reyes) 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. Reyes, 545 P.3d 577, 154 Haw. 88 (hawapp 2024).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 28-MAR-2024 08:29 AM Dkt. 60 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I

STATE OF HAWAI‘I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EDDIESON REYES, Defendant-Appellant

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 1CPC-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER (By: Hiraoka, Presiding Judge, Wadsworth and Nakasone, JJ.)

Defendant-Appellant Eddieson Reyes (Reyes) appeals from the November 16, 2022 Judgment of Conviction and Sentence (Judgment), entered by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (Circuit Court).1 Following a jury-waived trial on the charges of second-degree murder, first-degree terroristic threatening, and firearm-related offenses, Reyes was found guilty as charged,

1 The Honorable Fa‘auuga L. To‘oto‘o presided. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

and was sentenced to a life term of imprisonment without the possibility of parole.2 On appeal, Reyes contends that the Circuit Court erred by: (1) denying Reyes's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment, where the Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai‘i (State) "failed to present sufficient evidence to establish probable cause and intentionally omitted clearly exculpatory evidence by withholding the results of the gunshot residue [(GSR)] test from the grand jury"; (2) denying Reyes's Motion to Suppress, where it "failed to consider and evaluate the required Kaneaiakala factors in holding that [an eyewitness]'s identification of [Reyes] was 'reliable enough' to be admitted at trial"; and (3) denying Reyes's Renewed Motion for Judgment of Acquittal (MJOA), where "the State failed to exclude every reasonable inference of [Reyes]'s innocence, and thus failed as a matter of law to discharge its burden of presenting substantial evidence to support [Reyes]'s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."3 Upon careful review of the record and the briefs submitted by the parties, and having given due consideration to the arguments advanced and the issues raised, we resolve Reyes's points of error as follows, and affirm. The Circuit Court did not err by denying the Motion to Dismiss the Indictment.

Reyes argues that the State "failed to establish probable cause" because his arrest was based on two things: (1) eyewitness Leon Pacatan's (Pacatan) identification, which did not provide probable cause because it was "corrupted and unreliable"; and (2) the fact that Reyes was the "registered

2 The underlying case involved a road rage incident, where Triston Billimon (Decedent) was shot and killed by another driver on the Likelike Highway off-ramp in Kalihi. 3 Reyes's points of error have been reordered for clarity. 2 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

owner of the Acura" also did not provide probable cause because Reyes had reported "his vehicle was stolen ten minutes prior to the shooting" and "it was highly likely [Reyes] did not discharge a firearm." The State argues that probable cause was established, where Pacatan positively identified Reyes as the suspect shooter. "[I]n cases involving sufficiency of the evidence to support an indictment, this court . . . appl[ies] a de novo standard." State v. Taylor, 126 Hawai‘i 205, 214, 269 P.3d 740,

749 (2011) (citations omitted). In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to establish probable cause before the grand jury, every legitimate inference that may be drawn from the evidence must be drawn in favor of the indictment and neither the trial court nor the appellate court on review may substitute its judgment as to the weight of the evidence for that of the Grand Jury. The evidence to support an indictment need not be sufficient to support a conviction.

Id. at 215, 269 P.3d at 750 (quoting State v. Ganal, 81 Hawai‘i 358, 367, 917 P.2d 370, 379 (1996)). "A grand jury indictment must be based on probable cause. 'Probable cause' has been defined as a state of facts as would lead a person of ordinary caution or prudence to believe and conscientiously entertain a strong suspicion of the guilt of the accused." Id. at 218, 269 P.3d at 753 (cleaned up). To support an indictment, "the prosecution must provide evidence of each essential element of the charged offense to the grand jury." Id. (citation omitted). Here, the evidence presented to the grand jury sufficiently established probable cause for the charges in the Indictment. Pacatan gave eyewitness testimony about seeing an Acura and a BMW speeding on the freeway on June 18, 2021, at 11:00 p.m.; and he testified that when the vehicles were stopped, the driver of the Acura got out, went to the driver's side window of the BMW, and shot through the window. Pacatan

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

gave a description to the police of the suspect shooter, the license plate of the shooter's vehicle, and later identified Reyes to the police as the shooter. A second witness testified to hearing a gunshot after he passed by two stopped vehicles at the scene, and provided "a partial of the license plate number" of the vehicle that sped away. Decedent's wife and BMW passenger, Jannine Billimon (Jannine) testified to a confrontation between the vehicles on June 18, 2021 at 11:00 p.m. while Decedent was attempting to pass; she saw the Acura driver point a gun at her; the Acura driver moved his vehicle in a manner to force their BMW to take the off-ramp and end up hitting the Acura; Jannine hid under the BMW dashboard and heard a gunshot; Jannine then saw a hole in the BMW, and Decedent was bleeding. The medical examiner testified that Decedent died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Police officer witnesses testified to their pursuit of a suspect matching the description in the area of the scene; that Reyes reported his vehicle stolen at 11:16 p.m.; that the vehicle Reyes reported as stolen matched the description and license plate of the suspect shooter's vehicle; that Reyes looked like he had "just gotten out of the shower" when he went to the Kalihi Police Station to report the stolen vehicle; and that Pacatan identified Reyes at the Kalihi Police Station as the suspect but with a different shirt on. The evidence above established "probable cause," as it "would lead a person of ordinary caution or prudence to believe and conscientiously entertain a strong suspicion of the guilt of" Reyes for the offenses he was charged with. See Taylor, 126 Hawai‘i at 218, 269 P.3d at 753 (cleaned up). Reyes's arguments

on appeal go to the weight of the evidence, which may be at issue at trial, but are inappropriate for review of evidentiary sufficiency for a probable cause determination. See id. at 215, 269 P.3d at 750 ("[E]very legitimate inference that may be drawn 4 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

from the evidence must be drawn in favor of the indictment and neither the trial court nor the appellate court on review may substitute its judgment as to the weight of the evidence for that of the Grand Jury." (emphases added) (citation omitted)). The Circuit Court did not err in denying the motion to dismiss the Indictment based on insufficient evidence. See id. at 214- 15, 269 P.3d at 749-50. Reyes's second argument for dismissal of the Indictment is that the State "intentionally omitted the results of the [GSR] test before the grand jury—clearly exculpatory evidence which the prosecution was obligated to present." This argument lacks merit.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
545 P.3d 577, 154 Haw. 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-reyes-hawapp-2024.