NO. 27511 – Monday, July 20, 2009 – 1:30 p.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Respondent-Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ANGELA STENGER, Petitioner-Defendant-Appellant.
(Theft in the First Degree)

Attorney(s) for Petitioner-Defendant-Appellant(s)
Honorable John M. Tonaki, Public Defender, and Karen Nakasone, Deputy Public Defender

Attorney(s) for Respondent-Plaintiff-Appellee(s)
Honorable Mark J. Bennett, Attorney General, and Lawrence A. Goya, Deputy Attorney General, State of Hawai`i

NOTE: Order assigning Judge Glenn J. Kim due to a vacancy, filed 3/13/09.

COURT: RTYM, CJ; PAN, SRA & JED, JJ, and Circuit Judge Glenn J. Kim due to a vacancy.

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Brief description:

Petitioner/Appellant-Defendant Angela Stenger petitions this court to review the Intermediate Court of Appeals’ (“ICA’s”) January 30, 2009 judgment on appeal, entered pursuant to its December 31, 2008 summary disposition order. The ICA determined that the first circuit court reversibly erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the claim of right defense, and, accordingly, vacated the circuit court’s judgment finding Stenger guilty of first-degree theft by deception, in violation of Hawai`i Revised Statutes §§ 708-830(2) and 708-830.5(1)(a) (1993). In her application for writ of certiorari before this court, Stenger asserts that the ICA gravely erred by ruling (1) that Stenger was not entitled to a mistake of fact jury instruction, where she was mistaken as to what income and household changes she was required to report, and (2) that the circuit court was not required to give a specific unanimity instruction, inasmuch as this instruction was necessary “to ensure that [the] jury agreed which acts of deception occurred and which combination of those acts resulted in the deprivation of property in excess of $20,000.”