State v. Webster

11 P.3d 466, 94 Haw. 241
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 2000
Docket23039
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 11 P.3d 466 (State v. Webster) 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. Webster, 11 P.3d 466, 94 Haw. 241 (haw 2000).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA J-

We hold that the conviction of Defendant Appellant Tarval G. Webster (Défendant) of the offense of Carrying, Using[,] or Threatening to Use a Firearm in the Commission of a Separate Felony, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 134-6(a) 1 and *243 (e) (Supp.1998), 2 the separate felony being Assault in the Second Degree, HRS § 707-711(l)(a) (1993), against Roman Villanueva, must be vacated because there was no substantial evidence that Defendant caused substantial bodily injury to Roman, that type of injury being an element of Assault in the Second Degree under subsection (a) of HRS § 707-711(1).

Defendant was charged in a March 19, 1998 0‘ahu grand jury indictment with: Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, in violation of HRS §§ 706-500(2) (1993), 707-701.5 (1993), and 706-656 (Supp.1999) (Count I); Carrying, Using[,] or Threatening to Use a Firearm in the Commission of a Separate Felony, in violation of HRS § 134-6(a) and (e) (Count II); Place to Keep Pistol or Revolver, in violation of HRS § 134-6(e) and (e) (Count III); Reckless Endangering in the First Degree, in violation of HRS §§ 707-713 (1993) and 706-660.1(3) (1993) (Counts IV— VI); and Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree, in violation of HRS §§ 707-715 (1993) and -716 (1993) (Count VII).

Count II pertained to Roman and alleged as follows:

On or about the 1st day of July, 1997, in the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii!,] TARVAL G. WEBSTER did knowingly carry on his person or have within his immediate control or intentionally use or threaten to use a firearm while engaged in the commission of a separate felony, whether the firearm was loaded or not, and whether operable or not, thereby committing the offense of Carrying, Using!,] or Threatening to Use a Firearm in the Commission of a Separate Felony, in violation of Sections 134-6(a) and (e) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the separate felony is Assault in the Second Degree, in which the elements are that TARVAL G. WEBSTER did intentionally or knowingly cause substantial bodily injury to Roman Villanueva, thereby committing the offense of Assault in the Second Degree, in violation of Section 707-711(l)(a) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

(Emphases added.)

On May 3,1999, the jury returned verdicts of guilty of the lesser included offense of Attempted Assault in the First Degree (Count I), of guilty as charged of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony (Count II), of Place to Keep Pistol or Revolver (Count III), and of three counts of Reckless Endangering in the First Degree (Counts IV—VI), and of not guilty of Terror-istic Threatening in the First Degree (Count VII). Defendant was sentenced to an indeterminate maximum ten-year prison term with a mandatory minimum of ten years (Count I), an indeterminate maximum twenty-year term (Count II), an indeterminate maximum ten-year term (Count III), and three five-year indeterminate maximum prison terms with mandatory minimum terms of five years (Counts IV to VI), all to be served concurrently.

On appeal, Defendant contends (1) that, as to Count II, there was no substantial evidence to show Roman suffered substantial bodily injury or that Defendant intentionally or knowingly caused such injury, and (2) that the reference in the testimony of Detective Harold Fitehett to a polygraph examination *244 given to one Carlson Yamamoto denied Defendant a fair trial.

I.

The following pertinent evidence was adduced with respect to Count II. Leila Amaral testified that, on July 1, 1997, she and Roman arrived at their apartment at about 11:15 p.m. Leila saw a white van parked in her stall. A group of people were outside the apartment. Roman told Leila the group included Defendant and Shannon Kane, known as “Sleepy.”

Subsequently, Roman’s friend, Kenneth Morris, entered the apartment, grabbed a knife, and asked Roman to go outside and help Morris fight. Leila grabbed the knife away from Morris. Leila heard Sleepy’s voice from outside say, “Guns, guns, you guys get guns.” Morris yelled back, “Why you guys got to bring guns, why you guys got to bring out guns for, just fight up and up.” Leila heard a van start up, Morris opened a door, and threw a pipe outside. Roman and Morris sat down on a couch in the living room near the living room window. Minutes later, Leila heard three gunshots. Roman said he was hit.

Roman testified that, prior to July 1, 1997, Roman and Morris had “ripfped] off’ crystal methamphetamine from Defendant. Roman later saw Defendant and there was no “bad blood” between them. Roman generally verified Leila’s testimony as to the events at the apartment on July 1, 1997. Roman related he heard what sounded like fireworks, felt a “tingling” sensation on the left side of his head, and a ringing in his ear.

Morris testified he sat next to Roman in the living room and three or four gunshots come through the apartment window, one shot went past him, another shot went over their heads, and one shot went between Roman and him. Later, Defendant apologized to Morris and asked Moms not to testify against him. Defendant disclosed that he used a .22 caliber weapon and that he was shooting for Morris.

Pugera Ganapathy, M.D., a physician, treated Roman at the St. Francis West emergency room. Dr. Ganapathy initially testified that Roman had a scalp “abrasion.” Later, Dr. Ganapathy described Roman’s injury as a “partial laceration.” Finally, Dr. Gana-pathy opined that the injury was a “major avulsion, laceration, or penetration of the skin.” On cross-examination, Dr. Ganapathy admitted that he described the injury to the police as an abrasion to the scalp. He treated the abrasion with an antibiotic ointment.

Dr. Ganapathy’s testimony on direct examination was as follows:

Q. [PROSECUTOR] Doctor, going back to July 2nd of 1997 in the early morning hours, did you treat a person named Roman Villanueva?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And where did you treat Mr. Villa-nueva?
A. In the emergency room at Saint Francis West.
Q. Did you observe any injury to him that morning?
A. He had a scalp abrasion on the left parietal area.
Q. Was that an abrasion or a laceration?
A. That’s a partial laceration.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 P.3d 466, 94 Haw. 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-webster-haw-2000.