NOT FOR PUBLICATION
NO. 25049
IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
STATE OF HAWAI`I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.
JOHN POOMAIHEALANI, Defendant-Appellant,
and
JOSEPH POOMAIHEALANI and BRANDON LIZARDO, Defendants
APPEAL FROM THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT
(CR. NO. 00-1-1714)
SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Burns, C.J., Watanabe and Foley, JJ.)
Count V: Possession Prohibited of Any Firearm by a Person Convicted of Certain Crimes, in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 134-7(b) & (h) (Supp. 2003); (2)
On appeal Poomaihealani contends the circuit court erred by:
(1)
permitting the State to adduce evidence of a
witness's out-of-court and in-court identifications of Poomaihealani as
the
defendant who had confronted the witness with the firearm;
(3)
failing to instruct the jury on applicable
principles of accomplice liability in the court's responses to Jury
Communications Nos. 4 and 6;
(4) providing an erroneous response to Jury Communication No. 7;
(5)
failing to limit the jury's consideration of
accomplice liability, as it could apply to the charges against
Poomaihealani, to
only Count VI;
(7)
failing to contemporaneously admonish the jury to
disregard the prosecutor's improper remarks that constituted
prejudicial misconduct.
Upon careful review of the record and the briefs
submitted by the parties and having given due consideration to the arguments advanced and law relevant to the issues raised, we resolve Poomaihealani's points of error as follows:
(1) The witness's identification of Poomaihealani was not error because the identification procedure was not impermissibly suggestive and the identification was reliable. State v. Mitake, 64 Haw. 217, 221-22, 638 P.2d 324, 327-28 (1981).
(2) There was substantial evidence (credible evidence of sufficient quality and probative value to enable a person of reasonable caution to support a conclusion) to support Poomaihealani's conviction on Counts V and VII. State v. Richie, 88 Hawai`i 19, 33, 960 P.2d 1227, 1241 (1998).
(3) The jury instructions and jury communications were not prejudicially insufficient, erroneous, inconsistent, or misleading. State v. Vanstory, 91 Hawai`i 33, 42-43, 979 P.2d 1059, 1068-69 (1999); State v. Miyashiro, 90 Hawai`i 489, 492, 979 P.2d 85, 88 (App. 1999).
(4) The arguments of the prosecutor did not constitute conduct that would warrant a new trial or the setting aside of a guilty verdict, as such could not have caused prejudice to Poomaihealani's right to a fair trial. State v. McGriff, 76 Hawai`i 148, 158, 871 P.2d 782, 792 (1994).
Accordingly, we affirm the March 13, 2002 Judgment of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai`i, July 28, 2004.
James S. Gifford,
Deputy Public Defender,
for defendant-appellant.
1. The Honorable Wilfred K. Watanabe presided.
2. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 134-7(b) and (h) (Supp. 2003) provides:
. . . .
(b) No person who is under indictment for, or has waived indictment for, or has been bound over to the circuit court for, or has been convicted in this State or elsewhere of having committed a felony, or any crime of violence, or an illegal sale of any drug shall own, possess, or control any firearm or ammunition therefor.
. . . .
(h) Any person violating subsection (a) or (b) shall be guilty of a class C felony; provided that any felon violating subsection (b) shall be guilty of a class B felony. Any person violating subsection (c), (d), (e), (f), or (g) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
3. Poomaihealani was originally charged with Assault in the First Degree in violation of HRS § 707-710; however, the jury acquitted Poomaihealani of first degree assault and convicted him of the included offense of second degree assault.
4. HRS § 707-711 (1993) provides:
(a) The person intentionally or knowingly causes substantial bodily injury to another;
(c) The person intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to a correctional worker, as defined in
section 710-1031(2),
who is engaged in the performance of duty or who is within a correctional facility;
(e) The person intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to an educational worker who is engaged in the
performance
of duty or who is within an educational facility. For the purposes of this section, "educational
worker" means any
administrator, specialist, counselor, teacher, or employee of the department of
education, or a person who is a volunteer in
a school program, activity, or function that is established,
sanctioned, or
approved by the department of education or a
person hired by the department of education
on a contractual basis and engaged in
carrying out an educational function.
5. HRS § 707-716 (1993) provides in relevant part:
. . . .
(d) With the use of a dangerous instrument.