NO. 29215 – Thursday, December 3, 2009 – 9 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellant, vs. TANYA RAPOZO, aka Tnaya Rapoza, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellee. (Ownership or Possession Prohibited of Any Firearm or Ammunition by a Person Convicted of Certain Crimes)

Attorney(s) for Petitioner/Defendant-Appellee(s)
Alvin Nishimura

Attorney(s) for Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellant(s)
Honorable Peter B. Carlisle, Prosecuting Attorney, and Brian R. Vincent, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City & County of Honolulu

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

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Brief description:

Petitioner Tanya Rapozo applied for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment entered by the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) pursuant to the ICA’s April 20, 2009 memorandum opinion. The ICA’s judgment vacated the Circuit Court of the First Circuit’s order granting Rapozo’s motion to dismiss Count I of the indictment against her as a de minimis infraction within the meaning of Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) §702-236 (1993). Count I of the indictment charged Rapozo with Ownership or Possession Prohibited of Any Firearm or Ammunition By a Person Convicted of Certain Crimes in violation of HRS § 134-7(b) and (h) (Supp. 2007). On appeal, Rapozo asserts that the ICA gravely erred in concluding that the circuit court abused its discretion in dismissing Count I as de minimis.