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Oral Arugments before the Supreme Court

No. SCWC-29792, Thursday, October 6, 2011, 10:00 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. JASON KIESE, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

(Harassment)

Attorney(s) for Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant: John M. Tonaki, Public Defender, and Taryn R. Tomasa, Deputy Public Defender

Attorney for Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee: Stephen K. Tsushima, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney

NOTE: Order accepting application for writ of certiorari, filed 07/29/11.

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 Jason Kiese (Kiese) filed an application for a writ of certiorari to review the May 17, 2011 judgment of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), filed pursuant to its February 25, 2011 Memorandum Opinion. The ICA affirmed the Family Court of the First Circuit’s (family court) April 1, 2009 Judgment of Conviction and Sentence. Kiese is alleged to have committed harassment in violation of Hawai’i Revised Statutes § 711-1106(1)(a).

On appeal, Kiese argues that: (1) there was insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction of harassment; (2) there was prosecutorial misconduct, because the prosecutor asserted his personal knowledge during questioning; (3) the minor complainant’s testimony was not competent, and the ICA gravely erred in drawing conclusions from the minor complainant’s non-verbal responses; and (4) the family court erred in failing to stay the sentence pending appeal. This appeal also involves the application of the parental discipline defense (HRS § 703-309(1)).