State v. Bringas
| Decision Date | 11 October 2018 |
| Docket Number | NO. CAAP-17-0000543,CAAP-17-0000543 |
| Citation | 428 P.3d 792 (Table) |
| Parties | STATE of Hawai'i, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Adrian-John C. BRINGAS, also known as AdrianJohn Bringas, Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | Hawaii Court of Appeals |
On the briefs:
Phyllis J. Hironaka, Deputy Public Defender, for Defendant-Appellant.
Sonja P. McCullen, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
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MEMORANDUM OPINIONDefendant-Appellant Adrian-John C. Bringas, also known as AdrianJohn Bringas (Bringas ), appeals from the Judgment of Conviction and Sentence (Judgment ) entered on June 21, 2017, in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (Circuit Court ), against him and in favor of Plaintiff-Appellee the State of Hawai'i (State ).1
On April 19, 2016, Bringas was indicted by a grand jury and charged with (1) one count of Murder in the Second Degree, in violation of Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS ) § 707-701.5 (2014) (Murder Second ),2 in the death of minor WS (WS ), and (2) one count of Assault in the Second Degree, in violation of HRS § 707-711(1)(a) (2014)3 and/or HRS § 707-711(1) (b) and/or HRS § 707-711(1)(d) (Assault Second ), in relation to complaining witness minor CS (CS ), WS's brother. After a jury trial, Bringas was found guilty of Murder Second and acquitted of the assault charge.
Although particular facts were disputed, it is clear that on April 12, 2016, around 10:00 p.m., Bringas had an altercation or altercations with WS and CS. Bringas stabbed WS in the chest, causing perforation to his left lung, heart, aorta, and pulmonary artery resulting in major blood loss. WS was pronounced dead at Queen's Medical Center at 10:35 p.m. CS, in a confrontation with Bringas immediately following the stabbing of WS, suffered a stab wound
to his leg. Bringas claimed he was acting in self-defense.
On April 19, 2016, Bringas was charged with Murder Second for intentionally or knowingly causing the death of WS. Bringas was also charged with Assault Second for intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing substantial bodily injury to CS with a dangerous instrument.
On January 12, 2017, Bringas filed a Notice of Intent to Use Evidence (Notice of Intent ) in which he stated that he intended to use evidence as to the alleged gang membership of WS, CS, and witnesses RK and Prescott.
On January 30, 2017, the State filed State of Hawaii's Motion in Limine (Motion in Limine ), seeking to preclude from use at trial "any testimonial or documentary evidence of 'specific instances of aggressive conduct' of any prosecution witness, including any references to Gang related activities and/or gang membership." It also sought exclusion of prior bad acts, specific instances of untruthfulness, and the prior criminal record of any prosecution witness.
On February 2, 2017, the Circuit Court held a hearing regarding, inter alia, the Notice of Intent and the Motion in Limine. Bringas submitted three photographs to the court, which he sought to use as evidence of the gang affiliation of the witnesses. The court asked for an offer of proof regarding the photographs. Bringas argued that the photographs showed the State's witnesses making gang signs, and that their gang affiliation was relevant to his argument that he was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time and acted in self-defense. He argued that a gang's propensity to protect its "turf" was relevant to his theory of the case that he was attacked without provocation while he was "minding his own business." He also argued that the witnesses blamed Bringas for having stabbed WS and attacked Bringas out of revenge for having stabbed one of their gang members. The Circuit Court asked if Bringas was a member of a rival gang, noting that it had reviewed State v. Renon, 73 Haw. 23, 828 P.2d 1266 (1992), which in the Circuit Court's reading, stood for the rule that "when gang affiliation evidence comes in before the trier of fact, it's to explain the dynamics between two rival gangs that might not otherwise be known to or part of the common knowledge for the trier of fact." Bringas submitted that he was not in a rival gang, but that being in a rival gang was not the only prerequisite for gang members to attack someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Circuit Court ruled that evidence would not be allowed in a trial, stating:
We note here that the exclusion of the gang-related evidence was not included as a basis for relief in Bringas's post-trial Motion for New Trial. However, in the hearing on that motion, the Court further explained its previous ruling, stating:
And just so we're clear, I think when that decision was made, we assumed, the Court assumed that it was, in fact, gang activity that was depicted. But the basis of excluding the photographs was whether or not it could relate to any relevant issue at trial. And the Court found that without some kind of expert testimony or some kind of testimony linking gang activity to whatever issue might be relevant at trial, that it was going to be prohibited under Rule 403 of the Hawai'i Rules of Evidence.
Elaine Prescott (Prescott ), a friend of WS, testified as to the events leading to the altercation between Bringas and WS. Prescott testified that she was hanging out the evening of the altercation with WS and CS at Kuhio Park Terrace where CS and WS's grandfather lived. Also with them were minor RK (RK ) and minor WK (WK ). Prescott was with RK, WK, and CS in a stairwell of Kuhio Park Terrace when she decided to walk to the store for cigarettes. WS had previously left the group to park a car. On the way to the store Prescott observed WS behind a trash dumpster speaking with Bringas, whom she did not know.
Prescott testified that she saw Bringas and WS speaking and approached them; she saw that WS was smoking marijuana and asked to smoke with them. RK, Prescott's boyfriend, approached and saw Prescott and asked what she was doing; he could not see WS and Bringas due to the angle from where he was standing. She told him to go away, and he started to return to the stairwell. While speaking with RK, Prescott overheard Bringas asking WS if he "wanted to buy a dime." WS said no because he did not have any money. When Prescott turned back to WS and Bringas after speaking with RK, WS and Bringas were already fighting. Initially, WS and Bringas were not using weapons but only shoving and punching. WS and Bringas ended up against a wall next to the trash can, at which time Prescott observed that Bringas reached into his backpack and retrieved something shiny. Prescott told WS to run, which he did. Bringas chased WS, caught him, and stabbed him. WS tried to get away from Bringas, but Bringas grabbed a hold of his shirt, and WS fell down by a truck. According to Prescott, Bringas yelled, "Wooooo, I like this, I like this, I want some more."
RK testified that he heard the commotion of the fight and returned to where he had spoken with Prescott. He observed WS and Bringas punching each other but he did not see a weapon. Prescott said to RK, "Baby, go get him, that's the guy." RK saw the fight move into the road and heard Bringas say, "Oh, he likes this, he wants some more." RK engaged Bringas and they began to fight; then RK saw that Bringas had a shiny object in his hand. RK ran away because he felt his life was threatened.
CS testified that he heard the commotion caused by the altercation and heard Prescott screaming, so he left the stairwell and ran through the parking lot towards the screaming. CS heard a girl say, "Oh that's the guy, that's the guy," and he saw Bringas walking with his backpack. CS grabbed Bringas's backpack, and then they began to fight. CS saw something in Bringas's hand. During the fight, Bringas stabbed CS in his right hip. CS then fled. CS's stab-wound was not life-threatening.
Bringas also testified at trial. Bringas testified that he had stopped at Kuhio Park Terrace because his bike chain had come off his bike. He pulled out his knife to fix the chain, and, as he was finishing up, WS approached him. Bringas stated that WS inquired about what was happening and offered Bringas a hit of the marijuana he was smoking. Bringas testified it was WS who offered to sell him some drugs, which Bringas declined. WS began asking questions about who Bringas was, which made Bringas feel uncomfortable. Bringas placed his knife in his waistband because he felt the situation was uncomfortable. It was at this point that Prescott...
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