NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER


NO. 29579





IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I





WILLARD M. IMAMOTO, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

HAWAII STATE HOSPITAL, DR. JULIE TRIHN, CHIYOMI FUKINO,
JAMIE ROMAN, DUDLEY AKAMA, Defendants-Appellees,

and

RUPERT GOETZ, Defendant.




APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
(CIVIL NO. 08-1-0823)





ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL FOR
LACK OF APPELLATE JURISDICTION
(By: Foley, Presiding Judge, Fujise and Leonard, JJ.)

Upon review of the record for this case, it appears that we lack jurisdiction over the appeal that Plaintiff-Appellant Willard Max Imamoto (Appellant Imamoto) is asserting from the Honorable Karl K. Sakamoto's oral announcements regarding the circuit court's adjudication of motions for summary judgment, because the circuit court has not reduced any of its dispositive rulings to separate, final judgment.

Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 641-1(a) (1993 & Supp. 2007) authorizes appeals from "final judgments, orders, or decrees[.]" Appeals under HRS § 641-1 "shall be taken in the manner . . . provided by the rules of the court." HRS § 641-1(c) (1993 & Supp. 2007). Rule 58 of the Hawai‘i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) requires that "[e]very judgment shall be set forth on a separate document." Based on the separate document requirement, the Supreme Court of Hawai‘i has held that "[a]n appeal may be taken . . . only after the orders have been reduced to a judgment and the judgment has been entered in favor of and against the appropriate parties pursuant to HRCP [Rule] 58[.]" Jenkins v. Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, 76 Hawai‘i 115, 119, 869 P.2d 1334, 1338 (1994). "An appeal from an order that is not reduced to a judgment in favor of or against the party by the time the record is filed in the supreme court will be dismissed." Id. at 120, 869 P.2d at 1339.

The circuit court has not reduced any of its dispositive rulings to separate, final judgment. Absent a separate, final judgment, this appeal is premature and must be dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that appellate court case number 29579 is dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai‘i, March 31, 2009.