State v. Cadus, 12910
Decision Date | 09 March 1989 |
Docket Number | No. 12910,12910 |
Citation | 769 P.2d 1105,70 Haw. 314 |
Parties | STATE of Hawaii, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Anthony Lorenz CADUS, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Although the detailed and technical niceties of previous pleading and practice are no longer required, a charge must still be in a legally sufficient form which correctly advises the defendant about the allegations against him or her. All the information supplied to the defendant must be considered when reviewing the sufficiency of the charge.
2. No obvious defect thus exists where the record demonstrates that the charge tracks the statutory language, and the defendant clearly understood the accusation plus mounted a viable defense.
3. The reliance on Territory v. Puana, 25 Haw. 584 (1920), as the controlling authority for reckless driving cases, however is misplaced where the reckless driving statute at issue there has long since been repealed, and a new law is now in effect.
4. We do not condone the late raising of any objections; all trial counsel are obliged to promptly protest any perceived error for an immediate resolution of the problem.
5. Moreover despite the oral charge's deficiency, the defendant suffered no prejudice since his defense counsel was fully prepared for the trial with a full knowledge of the events in question. Any error was therefore waived.
Stephen K. Yamada, Honolulu, for defendant-appellant.
Wallace W. Weatherwax (Lila B. LeDuc on the brief), Deputies of the Pros. Atty., Honolulu, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before LUM, C.J., and NAKAMURA, PADGETT, HAYASHI and WAKATSUKI, JJ.
Defendant-Appellant Anthony Lorenz Cadus (hereinafter "Cadus") appeals his conviction for reckless driving pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes (hereinafter "HRS") § 291-2 (Supp.1988). At the trial, Cadus had pled not guilty to the oral charge, Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawaii (hereinafter "State") had then presented the prosecution case, Cadus had thereafter moved for a dismissal arguing that the charge was insufficient, but the trial court had denied the motion as untimely raised. Cadus contends that the trial court erred because 1) the deficient charge could be noted at any time as a jurisdictional defect; and 2) State's evidence did not support the conviction. Seeing no reversible error, however, we affirm the judgment of conviction.
BACKGROUND FACTS.
On Saturday, March 7, 1987 after 9:00 p.m., Honolulu Police Department Officer Michael Cho (hereinafter "Officer Cho") cited Cadus for driving recklessly on Kalakaua Avenue and Liliuokalani Avenue in Waikiki. According to Officer Cho, the car Cadus was driving had sped through the crowded intersections with screeching tires, prevented many pedestrians from traversing the crosswalks, caused other pedestrians already on the road to jump back onto the curb, and disregarded the right-of-way which other vehicles had possessed. Officer Cho summarized these observations on the traffic ticket and gave Cadus a copy. Cadus, by contrast, denied speeding, endangering anyone, or hitting other property, attributed the squealing tires to gravel on the streets, and noted that no speeding ticket had ever issued.
At the beginning of the trial, this occurred:
Transcript of December 14, 1987 at 2. Officer Cho then testified about the reckless driving. Cadus next took the stand to refute the allegations.
But before Cadus had finished his account, his defense counsel sought to dismiss the case on the jurisdictional ground that the complaint was insufficient. State, though, objected as follows:
MR. LEONG: The State would object, Your Honor, because the charge was given approximately an hour and a half--approximately an hour and fifteen minutes ago. At that time, counsel was fully apprised. He was represented by counsel. He had the opportunity to object. So at that time he should have objected to it --(inaudible)--any amendment of the charge.
....
Id. at 51-52 (emphasis added).
The trial court denied the motion as untimely, and Cadus resumed his testimony. The trial court subsequently found Cadus guilty but stayed the sentence pending the resolution of his appeal.
Cadus then appealed.
QUESTIONS PRESENTED. 1
These are the issues posed:
I. Whether the trial court erred by not dismissing the case based on the claimed defects in the oral charge? NO.
II. Whether the trial court erred by not dismissing the case based on the sufficiency of the evidence? NO.
SUFFICIENCY OF THE ORAL CHARGE.
Cadus maintains that the oral charge 1) neglected to describe what persons or property he had supposedly endangered; so 2) was insufficient as a matter of law. State counters that Cadus 1) was adequately apprised about the nature of the offense; and 2) failed to timely challenge the purported defect at his earlier arraignment.
Although the detailed and technical niceties of previous pleading and practice are no longer required, a charge must still be in a legally sufficient form which correctly advises the defendant about the allegations against him or her. State v. Faulkner, 61 Haw. 177, 599 P.2d 285 (1979) (per curiam). All the information supplied to the defendant must be considered when reviewing the sufficiency of the charge. State v. Treat, 67 Haw. 119, 680 P.2d 250 (1984).
Here, HRS § 291-2 reads:
Reckless driving of vehicle or riding of animals; penalty. Whoever operates any vehicle or rides any animal recklessly in disregard of the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving of vehicle or reckless riding of an animal, as appropriate, and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year or both.
The charge similarly provides:
On or about March 7, 1987, in the Honolulu District, City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii, you did operate any vehicle recklessly, in disregard of safety of persons or property, in violation of Section 291-2 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Record at 1. No obvious defect thus exists where the record demonstrates that the charge tracks the statutory language, and the defendant clearly understood the accusation plus mounted a viable defense. See State v. Adams, 64 Haw. 568, 645 P.2d 308 (1982) (per curiam); HRS § 641-16 (1985).
Territory v. Puana, 25 Haw. 584 (1920), however, held that the omission of the names of those persons whose safety had been imminently threatened by the defendant's driving rendered the complaint deficient. There, the complaint had averred that the defendant on December 25, 1919 at Paliuli in the Makawao District of Maui County "did unlawfully, and furiously and heedless of the safety of others drive a vehicle, to wit, an automobile and did thereby imminently endanger the personal safety of others, contrary to the [law]...." Id. at 584-85. The trial court had overruled the defendant's demurrer that the indefinite charge had failed to allege a violation and later convicted him of reckless driving. Id. at 585. Reversing, this court had determined that 1) neither the statutory language nor the charge had informed the defendant about how he had driven recklessly; and 2) those persons whom he had threatened should have been identified, so that he could have prepared his defense. Id. at 587.
The reliance on Puana as the controlling authority for reckless driving cases, however, is misplaced where the reckless driving statute at issue there has long since been repealed, and a new law is now in effect.
Furthermore unlike Puana, there was no timely pretrial challenge to the sufficiency or the clarity...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
82 Hawai'i 202, State v. Moore
...and that the defendant clearly understood the accusations and mounted a viable defense at trial.") (Citing State v. Cadus, 70 Haw. 314, 318-19, 769 P.2d 1105, 1108-09 (1989)). Count I of the amended complaint tracks the applicable language of HRS § 705-500(2) virtually verbatim, adding only......
-
76 Hawai'i 517, State v. Schroeder, 15356
...language and that the defendant clearly understood the accusations and mounted a viable defense at trial. State v. Cadus, 70 Haw. 314, 318-19, 769 P.2d 1105, 1108-09 (1989). Put differently, where " 'the statute sets forth with reasonable clarity all essential elements of the crime intended......
-
78 Hawai'i 66, State v. Israel
...be in a legally sufficient form which correctly advises the defendant about the allegations against him or her." State v. Cadus, 70 Haw. 314, 318, 769 P.2d 1105, 1109 (1989); see also State v. Schroeder, 76 Hawai'i 517, 529, 880 P.2d 192, 204 (1994). The sufficiency of a charge is measured ......
-
State v. Williams
...Brief at 3; Answering Brief at 1. Such omissions are inexcusable, and these mistakes must not be repeated. State v. Cadus, 70 Haw. 314, 769 P.2d 1105 (1989) (per curiam); State v. Austin, 70 Haw. 300, 769 P.2d 1098 (1989); State v. Hanawahine, 69 Haw. 624, 755 P.2d 466 (1988).2 At the July ......