No. SCWC-28904 Thursday, August 18, 2011, 11:00 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAIʻI, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. DANIEL TAYLOR, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

(Theft in the First Degree)

Attorney for Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant: Todd Eddins of Galiher, Derobertis, Ono

Attorney(s) for Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee: Kimberly Tsumoto Guidry and Girard D. Lau, Deputy Attorneys General

NOTE: Order accepting application for writ of certiorari, filed 06/29/11.

COURT: MER, CJ; PAN, SRA, JED, & SSM, JJ.

The above oral argument is set in:
Supreme Court courtroom
Ali`iolani Hale
417 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief Description:

Petitioner/defendant-appellant Daniel Taylor (Taylor) filed an application for a writ of certiorari to review the March 16, 2011 judgment of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), entered pursuant to the ICA’s February 23, 2011, Memorandum Opinion. The ICA affirmed the Circuit Court for the Third Circuit’s December 13, 2007 order denying Taylor’s motion to dismiss his indictment for
Theft in the First Degree in violation of Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) §§ 708-830(1) and 708-830.5(1)(a), which was filed in relation to Taylor’s alleged involvement in taking native Hawaiian artifacts that had been repatriated to Kanupa Cave on the island of Hawaiʻi.

On appeal, Taylor argues that the evidence presented to the grand jury was insufficient to support the charge because the State failed to introduce evidence that the artifacts were “property of another” as required under HRS § 708-830(1). Taylor further argues that his prosecution in state court is barred by HRS § 701-112 because he was previously convicted in federal court for conspiracy to traffic in Native American cultural items, i.e., the Kanupa Cave artifacts.