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Oral Argument Before the Hawaii Supreme Court–No. SCWC-14-0000517

No. SCWC-14-0000517, Thursday, September 7, 2017, 10 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAI`I, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. MICHAEL L. ARKIN, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

The above-captioned case has been set for argument on the merits at:

Supreme Court Courtroom
Ali`iolani Hale, 2nd Floor
417 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

Attorney for Petitioner:

Phyllis J. Hironaka, Deputy Public Defender

Attorneys for Respondent:

Dale Y. Ross and David Blancett-Maddock, Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys

NOTE: Order accepting Application for Writ of Certiorari, filed 07/11/17.

COURT: MER, C.J., PAN, SSM, RWP, and MDW, JJ.

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief Description:

Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Michael L. Arkin (Arkin) filed his Application for Writ of Certiorari seeking review of the Intermediate Court of Appeals’ (ICA) May 15, 2017 Judgment on Appeal affirming the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit’s February 4, 2014 judgement convicting Arkin of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant (OVUII) in violation of Hawai i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 291E-61(a)(1).

On appeal to the ICA, the State conceded that a sufficient foundation had not been laid to admit the results of a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) field sobriety test and that without those results, there was insufficient evidence to support convicting Arkin. The ICA rejected the State’s concessions as “misguided” and affirmed Arkin’s conviction.

In his application for certiorari, Arkin argues the ICA gravely erred by 1) rejecting the State’s concession of error regarding the HGN test results and rejecting Arkin’s claim that foundation to admit the HGN test results was lacking, 2) concluding that the circuit court did not clearly err in admitting the results of the Walk-and-Turn field sobriety test, and 3) concluding that the circuit court did not plainly err in admitting the results of the One Leg Stand field sobriety test.