State v. Sugihara

68 P.3d 635, 101 Haw. 361, 2003 Haw. App. LEXIS 100
CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 2, 2003
Docket24584
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 68 P.3d 635 (State v. Sugihara) 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. Sugihara, 68 P.3d 635, 101 Haw. 361, 2003 Haw. App. LEXIS 100 (hawapp 2003).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

LIM, J.

Grant T. Sugihara (Sugihara) appeals the August 31, 2001 judgment of the family court of the first circuit, the Honorable Steven S. Aim, judge presiding, that convicted him of the offense of violation of an order for protection. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §§ 586-5.5 (Supp.2000) & 586-11 (Supp. *363 2002). 1 The State had alleged that on May 3, 2001, Sugihara violated an order for the protection of his ex-wife, by showing up unexpectedly at the townhouse where she and two of their minor children reside. 2

Relying upon the Hawaii Supreme Court’s opinion in State v. Aganon, 97 Hawai'i 299, 36 P.3d 1269 (2001), Sugihara argues, for the first time on appeal, that the family court’s jury instruction on the offense was erroneous and invites us, by way of purported prejudice, to notice plain error. We decline, and affirm.

I.Background.

The family court instructed the jury on the offense of violation of an order for protection, as follows:

In Count II of the Complaint, 3 Defendant GRANT T. SUGIHARA is charged with the offense of Violation of An Order for Protection.
A person commits the offense of Violation of An Order for Protection if he intentionally or knowingly engages in conduct which is prohibited by an Order for Protection issued by a Judge of the Family Court, and the Defendant was present at the hearing in which the Order for Protection was issued or was personally served, and the Order for Protection was in effect at the time of the prohibited conduct.
There are four material elements of the offense of Violation of An Order for Protection, each of which the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

These four elements are:

1. That on or about May 3, 2001, on the island of Oahu, an Order for Protection issued by a Judge of the Family Court prohibiting the Defendant from engaging in certain conduct was in effect; and
2. That the Defendant was present at the hearing in which the Judge of the Family Court issued the Order for Protection or was personally served with a copy of the Order for Protection prior to May 3, 2001; and
3. That the Defendant engaged in conduct which was prohibited by the Order for Protection; and
4. That the Defendant engaged in said conduct intentionally or knowingly.
A person acts intentionally with respect to his conduct when it- is his conscious object to engage in such conduct. 4
A person acts intentionally with respect to attendant circumstances when he is aware of the existence of such circumstances or believes or hopes that they exist.
A person acts intentionally with respect to a result of his conduct when it is his conscious object to cause such a result.
A person acts knowingly with respect to his conduct when he is aware that his conduct is of that- nature.
A person acts knowingly with respect to attendant circumstances when he is aware that such circumstances exist.
*364 A person acts knowingly with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result.

(Footnotes supplied.) Sugihara did not object to this jury instruction at any time below—he did not object when the family court settled jury instructions (he in fact agreed to the instruction), 5 he did not object when the family court read this instruction to the jury, and he did not object when the family court had finished reading all of its instructions to the jury. 6

II. Standards of Review.

A. Plain Error.

Because Sugihara failed to object to the jury instruction sub judice, he asserts plain error on appeal.

Hawaii Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 52(b) (West 2001) provides that, “Plain errors or defects affecting substantial rights may be noticed although they were not brought to the attention of the court.” . Ob-versely, HRPP Rule 52(a) (West 2001) provides that, “Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.” Specifically, HRPP Rule 30(f) (West 2001) provides, in pertinent part, that, “No party may assign as error the giving or the refusal to give, or the modification of, an instruction, ... unless the party objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which the party objects and the grounds of the objection.” See also State v. Corpuz, 3 Haw.App. 206, 216, 646 P.2d 976, 983 (1982) (citing the predecessor rule to HRPP Rule 30(f)—“Rule 30(e), HRPP (1977),” then holding that, “Since the instruction was not prejudicial to the defendant and the defendant made no objection, he cannot now raise the question on appeal. State v. Onishi, 59 Haw. 384, 581 P.2d 763 (1978); State v. McNulty, 60 Haw. 259, 588 P.2d 438 (1978).”).

“The general rule is that a reviewing court will not consider issues not raised before the trial court.” Corpuz, 3 Haw.App. at 211, 646 P.2d at 980. “This court’s power to deal with plain error is one to be exercised sparingly and with caution because the plain error rule represents a departure from a presupposition of the adversary system—that a party must look to his or her counsel for protection and bear the cost of counsel’s mistakes.” State v. Kelekolio, 74 Haw. 479, 515, 849 P.2d 58, 74-75 (1993) (citation omitted). “This court will apply the plain error standard of review to correct errors which seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings, to serve the ends of justice, and to prevent the denial of fundamental rights.” State v. Vanstory, 91 Hawai'i 33, 42, 979 P.2d 1059, 1068 (1999) (brackets, citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

B. Jury Instructions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
68 P.3d 635, 101 Haw. 361, 2003 Haw. App. LEXIS 100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sugihara-hawapp-2003.