No. SCWC-18-0000940, Friday, March 5, 2021, 10 a.m.

STATE OF HAWAII, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. AIVEN ANGEI, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

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

The oral argument was held remotely and will be live streamed for public viewing via the Judiciary’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/hawaiicourts.

Attorney for Petitioner:

Dana S. Ishibashi

Attorney for Respondent:

Chad M. Kumagai, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney

NOTE: Order assigning Circuit Court Judge Faʻauuga Toʻotoʻo due to a vacancy, filed 10/20/20.

NOTE: Order accepting Application for Writ of Certiorari, filed 11/18/20.

COURT: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, and Wilson, JJ., and Circuit Judge Toʻotoʻo, assigned by reason of vacancy.

[  Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format  ]

Brief Description:

This case arises from defendant’s indictment for Murder in the Second Degree (“Second Degree Murder”), in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (“HRS”) §§ 707-701.5 and 706-656 (2014), after a physical altercation with the victim. The defendant was convicted of the lesser included offense of Manslaughter based on reckless conduct in violation of HRS § 707-702(1)(a) (2014), and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. The circuit court denied defendant’s request to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of Reckless Endangering in the Second Degree (“Reckless Endangering Second”) under HRS § 707-714 (2014). The circuit court also denied defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, where defendant argued that compliance with the HRS § 327C-1 death determination procedure applies to this case and all criminal actions. This case requires the court to consider whether Reckless Endangering Second is a lesser included offense of Second Degree Murder, and whether there was a rational basis in the evidence to support a lesser included offense instruction for Reckless Endangering Second. This case also requires this court to consider whether the HRS § 327C-1 procedure for death determinations applies to all criminal actions involving death. The Intermediate Court of Appeals (“ICA”) determined Reckless Endangering Second is a lesser included offense of Second Degree Murder, but held that there was no rational basis in the evidence to support the Reckless Endangering Second instruction. The ICA also held that the HRS § 327C-1 procedure for death determinations does not apply to all criminal actions involving death. The defendant appealed the ICA’s decision to this court.