No. 29937 Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 10:00 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. GLENN KEOHOKAPU, JR., Defendant-Appellant.

Attorney(s) for Defendant-Appellant Cynthia A. Kagiwada

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff-Appellee Keith M. Kaneshiro, Prosecuting Attorney and James M. Anderson, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney

COURT: Foley, Fujise, and Ginoza, JJ.

SPECIAL NOTE: The above argument will take place in the Supreme Court courtroom on the Second Floor of Ali`iolani Hale, 417 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawai`i.

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief Description:

Defendant-Appellant Glenn Keohokapu, Jr., appeals from the June 22, 2009 judgment entered by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit. A jury found Appellant guilty of manslaughter, a violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 707-702(1)(a)(Supp. 2009), for stabbing Steven Wilcox during a fight at a Kaneohe night club. Under HRS §§ 706-661 and -662, Appellant was sentenced as a persistent offender to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

At issue on appeal is whether the Circuit Court abused its discretion by not striking potential jurors who had been exposed to pre-trial media reports and by reading a statement that summarized media reports as describing Wilcox as a good Samaritan; whether the Circuit Court wrongly admitted statements to police investigating previous crimes under Rules 612 and 802.1(4) of the Hawaii Rules of Evidence; whether the prosecutor’s closing statements during the sentencing hearing constituted misconduct; and whether the Circuit Court erred in instructing the jury on parole and the Hawai`i Paroling Authority.