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State v. Wallace7/22/2004
rol of a propelled vehicle?
A. Yes, sir.
(Emphases added.) Upon being transported to the Wailuku police station, Wallace indicated in a written statement that he had seen Jeff in the vehicle at 1718 Lehua Place around 6:00 p.m. and observed Jeff flee the scene.
On April 12, 2002, a Maui grand jury charged Wallace with one count of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, in violation of Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 708-836 (1993 and Supp.1999). [FN3] On April 15, 2003, Wallace filed his motion to suppress, arguing that his statements were obtained in violation of his constitutional rights. Specifically, Wallace argued that he neither knowingly, intelligently, nor voluntarily waived the privilege against self-incrimination or the right to counsel, pointing to his refusal to execute the waiver of rights portion on Form 103.
FN3. HRS § 708-836 provides in relevant part:
Unauthorized control of propelled vehicle. (1) A person commits the offense of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle if the person intentionally or knowingly exerts unauthorized control over another's propelled vehicle by operating the vehicle without the owner's consent or by changing the identity of the vehicle without the owner's consent.
(2) "Propelled vehicle" means an automobile, airplane, motorcycle, motorboat, or other motor-propelled vehicle.
At the suppression hearing on April 24, 2003, Officer Adachi was the only witness to *1279 testify. On May 13, 2003, the circuit court orally granted Wallace's motion to suppress, stating in relevant part:
After careful consideration of the record as a whole, the evidence produced at the hearing, the Court rules as follows.
The evidence shows that the defendant was administered the Miranda rights as a prelude to questioning by the police, and the [MPD] Form 103 was utilized for this purpose.
During the process of giving defendant his rights, he said he refused to sign the waiver of right[s] portion of the form which provides, among other things, that he's willing to make a statement and answer questions without talking to a lawyer or having a lawyer present. His refusal was acknowledged by Officer Adachi who entered the word, refused, quote unquote, on the waiver portion of Form 103.
Officer Adachi testified that the defendant, nonetheless, at the same time, stated that he desired to talk with the police. The burden is on the State to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant's waiver of his rights was voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently given.
Taking into consideration the holding of the Hawaii Supreme Court in the case of State versus [v.] Hoey, H-O-E-Y, 77 Hawai'i, 17 [881 P.2d 504], 1994 case, this Court finds the statement of the defendant regarding his desire to waive his rights and talk to the police was ambiguous, and under the totality of the circumstances of this case, the police had a duty to clarify whether the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his constitutional rights.
The police failed to clarify the ambiguity, therefore the Court can not find that the defendant voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waived his rights and the defendant's motion to suppress is granted and the statements are suppressed. But that does not reply [sic] to his remarks prior to the giving of the rights.
....
(Emphases added.)
The circuit court's June 12, 2003 FOF, COL and order includes the following relevant FOFs:
18. The vehicle was ... located [by Officers Adachi and Rowe] to the rear of the residence of 1718 Lehua Street, exactly where Defendant had initially approached the officers from.
19. There was no one else in the vicinity [sic] of the vehicle.
20. The vehicle plates were found to be fraudulent and officers confirmed the
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