State v. Thompson.

500 P.3d 447, 150 Haw. 262
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 10, 2021
DocketSCWC-17-0000361
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 500 P.3d 447 (State v. Thompson.) 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. Thompson., 500 P.3d 447, 150 Haw. 262 (haw 2021).

Opinion

*** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX 10-DEC-2021 07:52 AM Dkt. 9 OP

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII

---o0o---

STATE OF HAWAII, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellant,

vs.

COREY THOMPSON, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellee.

SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX

CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX; FC-CR NO. 3FC16100320K)

DECEMBER 10, 2021

RECKTENWALD, C.J., NAKAYAMA, McKENNA, AND WILSON, JJ., AND CIRCUIT JUDGE SOMERVILLE, ASSIGNED BY REASON OF VACANCY

OPINION OF THE COURT BY NAKAYAMA, J.

Pursuant to Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 805-1, the State

must ensure that a criminal complaint is supported by either

(1) the complainant’s signature or (2) a declaration submitted

in lieu of an affidavit.

Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellant State of Hawaiʻi (the

State) charged Petitioner/Defendant-Appellee Corey Thompson *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

(Thompson) by complaint with the offense of abuse of a household

or family member. Critically, the complaint was neither signed

by a complainant nor supported by a declaration. The State

consequently did not comply with its statutory obligation to

perfect the complaint. In turn, the family court erred in

issuing a penal summons. We therefore reverse the Intermediate

Court of Appeals’ (ICA) June 15, 2020 Judgment on Appeal.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Family Court Proceedings.1

On November 23, 2016, the State charged Thompson with

abuse of family or household member, in violation of Hawaiʻi

Revised Statutes (HRS) § 709-906(1),2 via complaint. The

complaint consisted of a single page signed by a deputy

prosecuting attorney. The complaint did not bear any other

signatures, and the State did not attach a declaration or an

affidavit to the complaint.

Based on the complaint, the clerk of the Family Court

of the Third Circuit (family court) issued a penal summons

compelling Thompson to appear in the Kona district court on

January 11, 2017.

1 The Honorable Ronald Ibarra presided.

2 HRS § 709-906(1) (Supp. 2016) provides in relevant part: “It shall be unlawful for any person, singly or in concert, to physically abuse a family or household member[.]”

2 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

On January 11, 2017, Thompson appeared in family court

in response to the penal summons. On March 2, 2017, Thompson

filed a “Motion to Dismiss for Penal Summons Issued Absent

Probable Cause Affidavit, Complaint Lacking Supporting

Affidavit, and Improper Arraignment” (motion to dismiss).

Thompson asserted that the family court should dismiss the case

for three reasons. First, the complaint was deficient because

it was “not by declaration, and it does not contain the required

sworn affidavit,” as required by HRS § 805-1.3 Second, because

the complaint was deficient, the family court lacked probable

3 HRS § 805-1 (2014) provides:

Complaint; form of warrant. When a complaint is made to any prosecuting officer of the commission of any offense, the prosecuting officer shall examine the complainant, shall reduce the substance of the complaint to writing, and shall cause the complaint to be subscribed by the complainant under oath, which the prosecuting officer is hereby authorized to administer, or the complaint shall be made by declaration in accordance with the rules of court. If the original complaint results from the issuance of a traffic summons or a citation in lieu of an arrest pursuant to section 803-6, by a police officer, the oath may be administered by any police officer whose name has been submitted to the prosecuting officer and who has been designated by the chief of police to administer the oath, or the complaint may be submitted by declaration in accordance with the rules of court. Upon presentation of the written complaint to the judge in whose circuit the offense allegedly has been committed, the judge shall issue a warrant, reciting the complaint and requiring the sheriff, or other officer to whom it is directed, except as provided in section 805-3, to arrest the accused and to bring the accused before the judge to be dealt with according to law; and in the same warrant the judge may require the officer to summon such witnesses as are named in the warrant to appear and give evidence at the trial. The warrant may be in the form established by the usage and practice of the issuing court.

3 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

cause to issue the penal summons under HRS § 805-3.4 Third, in

the absence of a supporting affidavit or declaration, the State

could not arraign Thompson in compliance with Hawaiʻi Rules of

Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 5(b)(1),5 which requires the State to

4 HRS § 805-3 (2014) provides:

Summons in what cases. Where, from the complaint, it appears to the district judge that the offense charged therein is not of a serious nature, or not one for which a severe penalty should be imposed, and where the person complained against is so situated as to raise no presumption of the person’s attempting to elude justice in the premises, the district judge may, in the district judge’s discretion (unless the complainant in writing requests the immediate arrest of the alleged offender), issue the district judge’s summons, wherein shall be recited the substance of the complaint, commanding the alleged offender to appear before the district judge upon a time to be therein stated, not less than twenty-four hours from the time of service of summons, and then and there to answer the charge. The summons shall contain a warning to the person summoned that failure to obey the same will render the person liable to attachment for contempt.

5 HRPP Rule 5(b)(1) (2014) provides in relevant part:

(1) Arraignment. In the district court, if the offense charged against the defendant is other than a felony, the complaint shall be filed and proceedings shall be had in accordance with this section (b). A copy of the complaint, including any affidavits in support thereof, and a copy of the appropriate order, if any, shall be furnished to the defendant. . . . . When the offense is charged by complaint, arraignment shall be in open court, or by video conference when permitted by Rule 43. The arraignment shall consist of the reading of the complaint to the defendant and calling upon the defendant to plead thereto. . . . . The defendant may waive the reading of the complaint or the recitation of the essential facts constituting the offense charged at arraignment . . . . In addition to the requirements of Rule 10(e), the court shall, in appropriate cases, inform the defendant of the right to jury trial in the circuit court and the defendant may elect to be tried without a jury in the district court.

4 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER ***

give Thompson “[a] copy of the complaint, including any

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
500 P.3d 447, 150 Haw. 262, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thompson-haw-2021.