State v. Sua

987 P.2d 976, 92 Haw. 78
Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals·Decided September 29, 1999·No. 21480·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA, J.

We hold that receipt of a witness’s grand jury testimony under the past recollection recorded exception to the rule against hearsay at the criminal trial of Defendant-Appellant Alomalietoa Sua (Defendant) violated the right of confrontation guaranteed him by the Hawaii Constitution. We conclude the witness’s grand jury testimony was not imbued with such indicia of reliability as would comport with the substance of the protections afforded under that guarantee. Under such circumstances, we determine that the resulting error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and thus the instant case must be remanded for a new trial.

In light of the remand and possible retrial, we also decide that (1) a witness’s pretrial identification of Defendant is admissible under Hawaii Rules of Evidence (HRE) Rule 802.1(3) (1993), to the extent the witness is capable of testifying substantively about the events, allowing the trier of fact to meaningfully compare the version of the events described pretrial with that given at trial, (2) a witness’s pretrial statements purportedly inconsistent with the witness’s trial testimony are admissible provided all requirements under HRE Rule 802.1(1)(C) are satisfied, and (3) there was substantial evidence which would otherwise sustain the jury’s verdict. Under our disposition of this appeal, we need not reach other issues raised by Defendant.

I.

Defendant was indicted 1 and charged on July 23, 1997 for robbery in the first degree, as follows:

On or about the 18th day of June, 1996, in the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii, [Defendant] ..., while in the course of committing a theft, and while armed with a dangerous instrument, did use force against Jonah Gooman [(Goo-man) ], ... with the intent to overcome that person’s physical resistance or physical power of resistance, thereby committing the offense of [rJobbery in the [f]irst [d]egree, in violation of [Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § ] 708-840(l)(b)(i)[ (1993) J.[ 2 ]

On December 30,1997, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged, and on March 9, 1998, Defendant was sentenced. He appeals from the judgment of conviction and sentence.

*82 II.

The following factual summary is from the grand jury testimony 3 of Gooman taken on July 23,1997.

Gooman had been acquainted with Defendant for many years. Gooman’s grandmother owned two rental units. Defendant’s brother, Nelson Sua (Nelson), was a resident of one of the rental units, but had vacated the premises during the spring or summer of 1996.

Gooman was not involved in collecting deposits or refunding deposits for the rental units. 4 However, approximately one week before June 18, 1996, Defendant approached Gooman and asked for the refund of a rent deposit claimed by Nelson. 5 Gooman told Defendant that he “did not know anything about ... the money or anything [sic] to do with the rent.”

On June 18, 1996, Gooman was driving a car belonging to his friend, Corey Kaowili (Kaowili). Kaowili was in the front passenger seat and Trent Pauahi (Pauahi) was in the rear seat. When they saw Defendant on the street, Gooman stopped the car because Kaowili wished to speak to Defendant. Defendant entered the rear of the vehicle and requested a ride home.

Defendant again asked Gooman for the deposit. Gooman reiterated that he knew nothing about the money. Eventually Goo-man stopped the car, looked back, and saw Defendant “fiddling with a gun.”

After demanding that Gooman give him the money, Defendant struck Gooman on the back of the head with the butt of the gun. Gooman related he was struck “[p]retty hard.” As a result he felt dizzy and his head was bloodied.

Kaowili offered Defendant money so that he would “leave [Gooman] alone.” 6 At first Defendant rejected Kaowili’s offer. However, Defendant eventually took the money, instructed Gooman to obtain the balance owed, and alighted from the car. According to Gooman, Kaowili gave Defendant one hundred and twenty dollars.

Gooman further testified that he did not give Defendant permission to possess a gun, to strike him with it, or to demand or take any money.

III.

During trial, the State called a total of five witnesses: Gooman; Kaowili; Gooman’s mother, Marlene Gooman (Marlene); Pauahi; and Honolulu Police Department Lieutenant Derek Shimatsu 7 (Shimatsu). On appeal, Defendant argues that the court erred in (1) permitting Gooman’s grand jury testimony to be read to the jury, (2) allowing Shimatsu to testify about Gooman’s pretrial identification of Defendant, (3) authorizing Shimatsu to testify about prior inconsistent statements of Kaowili and Pauahi, (4) failing to instruct the jury on the defense of ignorance or mistake of fact, (5) denying Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, and (6) upholding a guilty verdict unsupported by substantial evidence.

IV.

We first examine whether the court erred in allowing Gooman’s grand jury testimony to be read to the jury.

A.

Gooman testified that at the time he appeared before the grand jury he recalled the events of the alleged robbery and was “as accurate as possible” in relating that testimo *83 ny. However, at trial, Gooman asserted his memory was “not good enough to allow [him] to testify fully and accurately”:

Q [PROSECUTOR].... I want to take you back to a few days or a week or so before June 18th, 1996, did [Defendant] approach you concerning getting some money?
A [GOOMAN]. No, I don’t remember.
[[Image here]]
Q. Are you saying that these matters you recalled] at the [g]rand Q]ury but now you don’t recall them?
A. 7es.
[[Image here]]
Q. Are you telling this jury that today, as you sit here today, your memory of these events is not good enough to allow you to testify fully and accurately?
A. Yes.
Q. But you were able to testify fully and accurately at the [g]rand Q]ury?
A. (Witness nodded affirmatively.) Yeah.

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State v. Sua, 987 P.2d 976, 92 Haw. 78 (hawapp 1999).

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