Valdez-Paz v. Demello

• Court: Hawaii Supreme Court
• Decided: June 8, 2026
• Docket: SCPW-26-0000411
• Status: Published

Opinion

Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCPW-XX-XXXXXXX 08-JUN-2026 08:01 AM Dkt. 7 ODDP

SCPW-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI ________________________________________________________________

REYNALDO VALDES-PAZ, Petitioner,

vs.

GENE DEMELLO, JR., Chairperson of the Hawaiʻi Paroling Authority, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State of Hawaiʻi; TOMMY JOHNSON, Director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State of Hawaiʻi; and SHANNON CLUNEY, Warden of the Halawa Correctional Facility, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State of Hawaiʻi, Respondents. ________________________________________________________________

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

ORDER DENYING PETITION WITHOUT PREJUDICE (By: Devens, C.J., McKenna, Eddins, and Ginoza, JJ., and Circuit Judge Costa, assigned by reason of vacancy)

Upon consideration of the petition for writ of habeas

corpus filed June 3, 2026, and the record, expedited relief is

available to Petitioner in the circuit court through the post-

conviction process. See Hawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure Rule

40(d) (eff. 2006) (“Where the petition makes a showing of

entitlement to immediate relief, the court may shorten the time

in which to respond to the petition.”). Also, habeas corpus petitions that require an evidentiary

hearing must be filed in the circuit court rather than this

court. See Eason v. State, 157 Hawaiʻi 252, 268, 576 P.3d 765,

781 (2025) (observing that, in Oili v. Chang, 57 Haw. 411, 412,

557 P.2d 787, 788 (1976), we declined to proceed on this court’s

concurrent jurisdiction where an evidentiary hearing was

required and relief was available in the circuit court); Matter

of Individuals in Custody of State, No. SCPW-XX-XXXXXXX, 2021 WL

4762901, at *15 (Haw. Oct. 12, 2021) (McKenna, J., concurring

and dissenting) (“Habeas petitions requiring evidentiary

hearings, however, must be filed in the circuit courts.”).

Thus, relief is available to Petitioner in the circuit court,

and we do not find that a special reason exists to invoke this

court’s original jurisdiction. See Oili, 57 Haw. at 412, 557

P.2d at 788.

It is ordered that the petition is denied without prejudice

to Petitioner seeking habeas corpus relief in the circuit court.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, June 8, 2026.

/s/ Vladimir P. Devens

/s/ Sabrina S. McKenna

/s/ Todd W. Eddins

/s/ Lisa M. Ginoza

/s/ Brian A. Costa