State v. Irvin
| Decision Date | 27 August 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 5006,5006 |
| Citation | 488 P.2d 327,53 Haw. 119 |
| Parties | STATE of Hawaii, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Robert IRVIN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1.After defendant in a murder trial testified in rambling fashion about events leading to the killing, the court suggested to defense counsel the advisability of eliciting facts by directing relevant questions to him rather than through 'story-telling performance' and 'story-telling approach' and having defendant tell 'a long, long story.'In the context in which the court used the quoted expressions, there was no reversible error, for it is clear that the court was merely referring to the narrative form of the testimony and was not expressing its opinion on the veracity of the testimony.
2.Where the issue of self defense is fairly raised by testimony, it is error to refuse instruction on self defense, and the fact that the issue raised by the testimony is not consonant with the theory of defense makes no difference.
3.HRS§ 748-3, which imposes upon the accused the burden of showing the nonexistence of malice aforethought, is constitutionally invalid.
Brook Hart, Public Defender, Honolulu (Andrea Levin, Deputy Public Defender, on the briefs), for defendant-appellant.
Lloyd L. Ching, Deputy Pros.Atty. City & County of Honolulu, Honolulu , for plaintiff-appellee.
Before RICHARDSON, C. J., and MARUMOTO, ABE, LEVINSON and KOBAYASHI, JJ.
After a jury trial in the first circuit court upon an indictment charging him with the commission of first degree murder, defendant was covicted of murder in the second degree.
On this appeal, defendant seeks reversal of the judgment of conviction on three grounds: first, that the circuit court erred in commenting adversely on his testimony in violation of his right to a fair and impartial trial; second, that the court erred in refusing to charge the jury on self defense notwithstanding the presence of evidence fairly raising the issue of self defense; and, third, that the court erred in giving an instruction to the jury on malice aforethought couched in the language of HRS § 748-3.
With regard to the first ground after defendant testified in rambling fashion about the events leading to the killing in question, the court suggested to defense counsel the advisability of eliciting facts from defendant by directing relevant questions to him rather than through 'storytelling performance' and 'story-telling approach' and having defendant tell 'a long, long story.'In the context in which the court used the quoted expressions, we think that the jury fully understood that the court was not expressing its opinion on the veracity of the testimony but was merely...
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State v. Santiago
...apply our holding in Cuevas to this case, as we applied it to other cases coming before the court on direct review. See State v. Irvin, 53 Haw. 119, 488 P.2d 327 (1971), and State v. Niskromoni, 53 Haw. 122, 488 P.2d 329 The defendant finally argues that the trial judge erred in refusing to......
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...for a defense, not one of a consistency of defenses." State v. Lira, 70 Haw. 23, 29, 759 P.2d 869, 873 (1988). See State v. Irvin, 53 Haw. 119, 120, 488 P.2d 327, 328 (1971) (trial court's refusal to give self defense instruction was reversible error where defendant's testimony "fairly rais......
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State v. Taylor
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State Of Haw.‘i v. Stenger
...evidence fairly raises the issue, regardless of “how weak, unsatisfactory, or inconclusive” the evidence may be. State v. Irvin, 53 Haw. 119, 120, 488 P.2d 327, 328 (1971) Territory v. Alcantara, 24 Haw. 197, 208 (1918)) (holding that the trial court's refusal of the defendant-requested sel......