State v. Grindling, 23472.
Decision Date | 19 September 2001 |
Docket Number | No. 23472.,23472. |
Parties | STATE of Hawai`i, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christopher GRINDLING, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
Christopher Grindling, petitioner/defendant-appellant, pro se, on the writ.
We hold that the provisions of an unexpired temporary restraining order (TRO) issued pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 586-4 (Supp.1999) remain in effect until modified or set aside. Inasmuch as the provisions of the TRO in this case were not modified or set aside, the factual basis for the TRO was not subject to collateral attack at the criminal trial charging Petitioner/Defendant Appellant Christopher Grindling (Petitioner) with violation of the TRO. The second circuit family court (the court),1 therefore, correctly applied the TRO provision prohibiting Petitioner from contacting Priscilla Vladimir to the evidence before it. We thus affirm the affirmance by the Intermediate Court of Appeals (the ICA)2 of the court's April 27, 2000 judgment of probation against Petitioner, but on the grounds set forth herein.
In relevant part, HRS § 586-4 provides as follows:
(Emphases added.)
Pursuant to HRS § 586-4, Vladimir obtained a TRO against Petitioner. The TRO was dated February 16, 2000, expired on May 16, 2000, and set a hearing date for a "show cause hearing" (OSC hearing) at which "the parties [would] be allowed to testify, call and examine witnesses[,] and give legal or factual reasons why these orders should or should not be continued to be in effect." The TRO was served upon Petitioner on February 16, 2000.
A March 2, 2000 complaint charged Petitioner with having violated the TRO on February 25, 2000. On April 26, 2000, his bench trial on the complaint was held. Vladimir testified for the defense, relating in pertinent part as follows:
On redirect examination, Vladimir testified as follows:
Vladimir also testified as follows on redirect examination:
The court convicted Petitioner of violating the TRO and entered a judgment of probation on April 27, 2000.
On appeal, the sole contention of Petitioner on plain error grounds4 is that Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawaii (the prosecution) "failed to prove the existence of a lawful TRO issued pursuant to HRS § 586-4, inasmuch as the trial record demonstrates that [Vladimir] filed the TRO against [Petitioner] for an improper purpose: `[t]he whole restraining order was in spite.'" (Emphasis added.)
This court assigned Petitioner's appeal from the court's April 27, 2000 judgment of probation to the ICA, and on July 31, 2001, the ICA filed a memorandum opinion affirming the judgment. See State v. Grindling, No. 23472, mem. op. at 16 (Haw.Ct.App. Jul. 31, 2001) (hereinafter, "the ICA's opinion")5. On August 22, 2001, Petitioner filed his application for writ of certiorari. On August 27, 2001, certiorari was granted.
The ICA affirmed the judgment of probation, apparently on the grounds that (1) "[b]ased on the signed statement contained in the ex parte petition [for TRO] that Vladimir signed under penalty of perjury, the family court properly relied on probable cause," ICA's opinion at 16, and (2) "Vladimir never testified at trial that the alleged abuse charges were false, but merely that she was motivated to expose the abuse out of `spite' and in retaliation." ICA's opinion at 15.
In his pro se application for certiorari, Petitioner maintains that
Under HRS § 586-4, the court may issue a TRO without notice upon a finding of "probable cause to believe that a past act or acts of abuse may be imminent." "[T]he purpose of the restraining order is to `prevent[ ] acts of abuse, or a recurrence of actual domestic abuse, and assur[e] a period of separation of the parties involved.'" Coyle v. Compton, 85 Hawai`i 197, 205, 940 P.2d 404, 412 (App.1997) (quoting HRS § 586-4) (brackets in original).6 The TRO is effective upon signing and filing, HRS § 586-5.6 (1993), and enforceable when the respondent is served with the order. See HRS § 586-4(c).7 Violation of the TRO is a misdemeanor. HRS § 586-4(c).
The TRO remains in effect until: (1) the TRO terminates after a designated period not to exceed ninety days, HRS § 586-5(a) (Supp.1999); (2) a protective order is issued by the court at the OSC hearing, HRS § 586-5.5;8 (3) the court dissolves or modifies the TRO at the OSC hearing; or (4) the court dissolves or modifies the TRO upon petition by either party after notice and a hearing. See Kie v. McMahel, 91 Hawai`i 438, 442, 984 P.2d 1264, 1268 (App.1999)
.
91 Hawai`i at 442, 984 P.2d at 1268. Although Vladimir announced at trial her intention to have the TRO amended, she took no action to do so from February 6, 2000, the date the TRO was issued, to April 26, 2000, the date of trial.
Petitioner's attempt at trial to challenge the factual basis for the TRO and on appeal to question its lawfulness on that basis constitutes a collateral attack on the TRO.
A collateral attack ... is an attempt to impeach a judgment or decree in a proceeding not instituted for the express purpose of annulling, correcting or modifying such judgment or decree. As a general rule, a collateral attack may not be made upon a judgment or order rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. If it is only a question of error or irregularity and not of jurisdiction, it cannot be raised on collateral attack.
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