Thedford v. Administrative Director of the Courts

• Court: Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
• Decided: July 17, 2025
• Docket: CAAP-23-0000079
• Status: Published

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 17-JUL-2025 NO. CAAP-23-000007907:52 AM Dkt. 60 SO IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI I

MARVIN L. THEDFORD, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COURTS, STATE OF HAWAI I, Respondent-Appellee

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT HONOLULU DIVISION (CASE NO. 1DAA-22-00009)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER (By: Leonard, Presiding Judge, Hiraoka and Wadsworth, JJ.) Petitioner-Appellant Marvin L. Thedford (Thedford)

appeals from the February 3, 2023 Judgment On Appeal (Judgment)

entered by the District Court of the First Circuit, Honolulu

Division (District Court),1 in favor of Respondent-Appellee

Administrative Director of the Courts, State of Hawai i (Hearing

Officer). The Judgment was entered on the District Court's

February 3, 2023 Decision and Order Sustaining Administrative

Revocation (Order Affirming Revocation), which affirmed the

Hearing Officer's decision to administratively revoke Thedford's

driver's license for two years (Administrative Decision).

Thedford raises two points of error on appeal,

contending that the District Court erred when it: (1) entered

Conclusions of Law (COLs) 1-5 because it did not provide

1 The Honorable Timothy E. Ho presided. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

sufficient basis for its rulings and all of the COLs are wrong

for the reasons stated in Thedford's petition for judicial

review; and (2) found probable cause existed to arrest Thedford

for any manner of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an

Intoxicant (OVUII) and that there was a preponderance of evidence

to believe Thedford was OVUII by reason of marijuana consumption.

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

Thedford's points of error as follows:

(1) Thedford argues that the District Court erred by

not making independent findings of fact or providing more

analysis for its COLs.

We conclude, however, that the District Court properly

reviewed the Administrative Decision in accordance with the

requirements of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 291E-40 (2020),

which provides in relevant part: § 291E-40 Judicial review; procedure. (a) If the director sustains the administrative revocation after an administrative hearing, the respondent, or parent or guardian of a respondent under the age of eighteen, may file a petition for judicial review within thirty days after the administrative hearing decision is mailed. . . .

. . . .

(c) The sole issues before the court shall be whether the director:

(1) Exceeded constitutional or statutory authority;

(2) Erroneously interpreted the law;

(3) Acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner;

(4) Committed an abuse of discretion; or

(5) Made a determination that was unsupported by the evidence in the record.

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

The statute does not require – or permit – a de novo

review of the Hearing Officer's factual assessment of the sworn

statement of the witnesses and other evidence in the record

before the Hearing Officer. Nor does the statute require or

permit the District Court to enter its own findings based on the

evidence before the Hearing Officer. Thedford cites no legal

authority that supports this point of error 2 and we conclude that

it is without merit.

(2) Thedford argues that probable cause did not attach

to arrest him for some violation of OVUII. Thedford argues that

he "exhibited no 'bad' driving nor any driving reasonably or

logically associated with 'impaired' driving at all . . . [and

that] [i]n fact, the sole basis for the stop was that the officer

noticed that Thedford's safety check had expired." Thedford then

offers multiple lines of attack against standardized field

sobriety tests (SFSTs) generally, arguing, inter alia, that the

studies underpinning SFSTs only demonstrate reliable indicators

of alcohol impairment, but that they do not prove that SFSTs can

validly demonstrate reliable indicators of any other kind of

impairment, most especially marijuana impairment. In other

words, Thedford contends that the evidence before the Hearing

Officer was insufficient to show impairment by marijuana, as

opposed to alcohol, and Thedford did not have alcohol in his

system. This argument is without merit.

2 The unpublished decision relied on by Thedford did not involve a review of an administrative revocation proceeding and is inapposite. Cf. State v. Manzano-Hill, No. 29063, 2010 WL 359901 (Haw. App. Jan. 27, 2010) (mem. op.) (an appeal from a suppression order entered by a district court in a criminal proceeding stemming from a charge of Promoting a Detrimental Drug in the Third Degree).

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

"Probable cause exists when the arresting officer has

reasonable grounds to believe, from facts and circumstances

personally known to the officer, or of which the officer has

trustworthy information, that the person arrested has committed

or is committing an offense." State v. Won, 137 Hawai i 330,

347, 372 P.3d 1065, 1082 (2015) (citation omitted). Probable

cause requires more than a mere suspicion, but less than a

certainty, and it is determined by a "reasonable man" (or

objective) standard, rather than the subjective opinions of an

officer. State v. Detroy, 102 Hawai i 13, 18, 72 P.3d 485, 490

(2003); State v. Delmondo, 54 Haw. 552, 553-54, 512 P.2d 551, 552

(1973). Finally, "'probable cause is generally based upon a

combination of factors, which together form a sort of mosaic, of

which any one piece by itself often might not be enough to

constitute probable cause, but which, when viewed as a whole,

does constitute probable cause.'" State v. Ferrer, 95 Hawai i

409, 430-31, 23 P.3d 744, 765-66 (App. 2001).

Here, the SFST was merely one piece in the mosaic

constituting probable cause to arrest Thedford for OVUII. First,

the Hearing Officer received into evidence and made a part of the

record sworn statements of several Honolulu Police Department

(HPD) Officers, including HPD Officer Jeffrey Fleigner (Officer

Fleigner), HPD Officer Bobby Ilae (Officer Ilae), and HPD Officer

Alena Armstrong (Officer Armstrong). Officer Fleigner, who

conducted the stop, observed Thedford to have glassy eyes, and

while speaking with Thedford, smelled a strong odor of burnt

marijuana, which led Officer Fleigner to inform the other

officers that he suspected that Thedford was under the influence

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

of an intoxicant. Officer Ilae averred that he detected a strong

odor of burnt marijuana emanating from within Thedford's vehicle.

Officer Ilae also stated that Thedford's breath smelled of burnt

marijuana, even from a distance of approximately one foot away,

and that his eyes were red, watery, and bloodshot. He also noted

that Thedford exhibited a noticeable circular sway. Officer

Armstrong also stated in her sworn statement that she detected an

odor of burnt marijuana in the police vehicle while Thedford was

present in it. The foregoing evidence, along with the HPD

officer's observation of Thedford's physical performance on the

SFST, tended to show, in the eyes of an objectively reasonable

person, reasonable grounds to believe that Thedford was under the

influence of an intoxicant, i.e., marijuana.

The Hearing Officer correctly stated that this court

has held that a defendant's performance on field sobriety tests

may be used to demonstrate that there is sufficient evidence to

convict a defendant of OVUII due to a drug, pursuant to State v.

Coffee, 104 Hawai i 193, 195-96, 200, 86 P.3d 1002, 1004-05, 1009

(App. 2004). As the Hearing Officer also noted: Other jurisdictions have reached similar results. See Kidd v. Commonwealth, 146 S.W.3d 400, 403 (Ky. Ct. App. 2004) (determining that commonwealth did not have to prove that defendant was driving erratically in order to provide sufficient evidence to satisfy the elements of the DUI statute regarding marijuana, when additional evidence including failing the field sobriety test "establish[ed] that [defendant's] ability to drive was impaired-despite the absence of erratic driving."). See also Weil v. State, 936 So.2d 400, 403-04 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006) (determining that there was sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that defendant, pulled over at an ID checkpoint, had been driving under the influence of marijuana by exhibiting poor balance, admitted to smoking marijuana, and other factors). See also State v. Dixon II, 2007-Ohio-5189, 2007 WL 2821708 at *2 (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)(stating that while nystagmus in a horizontal gaze nystagmus exam would not be present after consuming marijuana, other field sobriety tests are known to be affected by marijuana consumption (citing to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Drugs and Human Performance Fact Sheets 11 (2004)).

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

Thedford cites Commonwealth v. Gerhardt, in which the

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts noted that there is

"ongoing disagreement among scientists . . . as to whether the

[SFSTs] are indicative of marijuana impairment" and that the

studies on whether a person's performance on SFSTs is a reliable

indicator of impairment by marijuana have produced "mixed

results." 477 Mass. 775, 781, 81 N.E.3d 751, 757 (2017). The

Massachusetts court nevertheless concluded that "[t]he lack of

scientific consensus regarding the use of [SFSTs] in attempting

to evaluate marijuana intoxication does not mean, however, that

[SFSTs] have no probative value beyond alcohol intoxication."

Id. at 776, 81 N.E.3d at 754. The court further concluded that

"to the extent that [SFSTs] are relevant to establish a driver's

balance, coordination, mental acuity, and other skills required

to safely operate a motor vehicle, [SFSTs] are admissible at

trial as observations of the police officer conducting the

assessment." Id. With respect to whether observation of a

driver's performance on an SFST has probative value, we agree

with the Massachusetts court. While there may be a lack of

consensus regarding the efficacy of SFSTs in producing reliable

indicators of marijuana, or other drug, impairment, we cannot

conclude that a license revocation decision based in part upon

observations of a defendant's physical performance on an SFST is

clearly erroneous because the defendant was impaired by

marijuana, rather than alcohol.

The sworn statements concerning the HPD officer's

observations of Thedford's performance on the SFST provides

relevant and probative evidence regarding Thedford's balance,

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

coordination, mental acuity, and other skills required to safely

operate a vehicle. Here, Officer Ilae averred that Thedford

could not keep his balance during the instructional stage of the

SFST, that Thedford stopped walking and stepped off the line

multiple times, that he failed to correctly execute the turn as

instructed, and that he swayed and used his arms for balance,

hopped, and put his foot down during the one leg stand. Officer

Ilae also reported that during other portions of the SFST,

Thedford displayed a lack of eye convergence, as well as a

presence of eyelid and body tremors and some swaying. The

Hearing Officer found that the SFST performance was offered

properly into the record and that the officer's observations

indicated that Thedford was impaired; the District Court found

that the Hearing Officer did not make a determination that was

unsupported by the evidence in the record. We conclude that the

District Court did not err in doing so.

The District Court was not wrong in determinating that

the Administrative Decision concluding that Thedford was impaired

and thus OVUII based on the totality of the circumstances,

including his SFST performance, was made based on sufficient

evidence in the record.

Accordingly, the District Court's February 3, 2023

Judgment is affirmed.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai i, July 17, 2025.

On the briefs: /s/ Katherine G. Leonard Presiding Judge Kevin O'Grady, (Law Office of Kevin O'Grady), /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka for Petitioner-Appellant. Associate Judge

Christopher J.I. Leong, /s/ Clyde J. Wadsworth Deputy Attorney General, Associate Judge for Respondent-Appellee.