NO. 29170 – Thursday, December 3, 2009 – 11 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. JOSEPH MATTSON, III, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant. (Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree)

Attorney(s) for Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant(s)
Honorable John M. Tonaki, Public Defender, and James S. Tabe, Deputy Public Defender

Attorney(s) for Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee(s)
Honorable Peter B. Carlisle, Prosecuting Attorney, and Anne K. Clarkin, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City & County of Honolulu

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

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Brief description:

Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant (Petitioner) filed an Application for Writ of Certiorari (Application) seeking review of the judgement of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) filed on June 12, 2009, pursuant to its May 21, 2009 Summary Disposition Order affirming the April 22, 2008 judgment filed by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit convicting Petitioner of the offense of Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree, in violation of HRS § 707-716(1)(e). In his Application, Petitioner argues that the ICA gravely erred in holding (1) that the accusation by Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai`i (Respondent) during the closing argument that Petitioner’s presence during the trial enabled him to tailor his testimony to match the evidence presented was proper and (2) the court did not commit plain error in failing to instruct the jury that Petitioner had a constitutional right to be present throughout the trial.