State v. Lee6/7/1974
On May 11, 1973, defendant-appellee Lee was arraigned in the District Court of the Third Circuit, South Hilo Division, for alleged violation of HRS § 291-12. The information in this case charged defendant-appellee Lee as follows:
INFORMATION
On or about the 7th day of April, 1973, in Hilo, County and State of Hawaii, MARY K. LEE did operate a motor vehicle on the roadway leading to the Naniloa Hotel , a private property open to the general public, without exercising due care, to wit: by failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to maintain proper control of her vehicle,
thereby colliding into an oncoming vehicle, in violation of Section 291-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as amended.
Defendant-appellee Lee entered a plea of no contest and the court, sua sponte, took the matter under advisement.
Thereafter, on May 17, 1973, defendant-appellee Miles was arraigned in the District Court of the Third Circuit, Puna Division, for alleged violation of HRS § 291-1. The information in the second case charged defendant-appellee Miles as follows:
INFORMATION
On or about the 8th day of April, 1973, in Kapoho, County and State of Hawaii, on Railroad Avenue, a privately-owned road, GLENN W. MILES did operate a vehicle in a careless manner so as to endanger persons and property by traveling 35 to 40 miles per hour on a ten-foot wide unpaved road that had no shoulders, thereby being unable to avoid colliding with a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction, in violation of Section 291-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Defendant-appellee Miles also pleaded no contest to this charge and the court, sua sponte, took the matter under advisement.
Subsequently, on May 23, 1973, the district court judge filed written opinions in both cases. The charges against both defendants were dismissed, and both defendants were discharged. Except for the description of some factual differences between the cases, and that the first case involved the alleged violation of HRS § 291-12, and the second involved the alleged violation of HRS § 291-1, the written decisions in both cases were identical, and certainly the key legal question involved in both cases was substantively similar. The state has appealed to this court from both orders dismissing
these charges, under the provisions of HRS § 641-13(2) and Rule 43, District Court Rules of Penal Procedure, solely on a question of law. The Miles and the Lee cases have therefore been consolidated for purpose of disposition of these appeals.
The single and only issue presented to us by these appeals involves the proper interpretation of HRS §§ 291-1 and 291-12 as to whether these sections of the statutes should be deemed to apply to public property only. In each of these informations, neither defendant was charged with a chapter 291 offense on public property, e.g., on the public streets or highways, and, hence, the decisions below held that neither incurred criminal liability under the pertinent provisions of HRS chapter 291 for the reason that these provisions do not extend to any conduct of any kind on private property. On the other hand, the state argues on these appeals that the statutes should be deemed to cover all land, including paths, roadways, driveways, and trails, and all other real property within the st
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