Summary
The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court affirmed orders denying Christopher Deedy’s motions to dismiss charges before a potential third trial arising from the fatal shooting of Kollin Elderts. The court held that the motions were not waived under Hawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure Rule 12 and rejected Deedy’s arguments based on double jeopardy, statutory restrictions on prosecution, the trial court’s inherent authority, and Supremacy Clause immunity.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the defendant forfeited or waived his dismissal claims by filing them after the second trial.
- Whether double-jeopardy principles barred a third trial because the State allegedly abandoned the included offenses during the first or second trial.
- Whether the trial court's failure to instruct the first jury on lesser included offenses constituted an acquittal for double-jeopardy purposes.
- Whether collateral estoppel barred relitigation of the defendant's alleged reckless state of mind.
- Whether HRS §§ 701-109(2), 701-110(1), or 701-111(1)(a) and (c) barred retrial.
- Whether the circuit court abused its discretion under State v. Moriwake by denying dismissal with prejudice after the mistrials.
- Whether the defendant was immune from Hawaiʻi prosecution under the federal Supremacy Clause because he was a federal agent.
Holdings
- HRPP Rule 12(b)(1)'s pretrial-motion requirement for defects in the institution of a prosecution does not apply to motions concerning a retrial because a retrial is a continuation of an already instituted prosecution, not a new institution of prosecution.
- The State's decision to focus primarily on second-degree murder did not constitute abandonment of reckless manslaughter or the assault offenses, and the Quitog abandonment doctrine did not bar retrial on those offenses.
- A trial court's decision not to submit lesser-included-offense instructions is not an acquittal for state or federal double-jeopardy purposes.
- Collateral estoppel did not bar retrial because neither the first trial's instruction ruling nor the second trial's deadlock determined that Deedy was not guilty of reckless manslaughter or the assault offenses.
- HRS §§ 701-109(2), 701-110(1), and 701-111(1)(a) and (c) did not bar retrial of the included offenses.
- The circuit court did not abuse its discretion by denying dismissal with prejudice under State v. Moriwake after balancing the relevant factors and allowing a third trial on the unresolved included offenses.
- Deedy was not immune from Hawaiʻi prosecution under the Supremacy Clause.
Key quotations
“A retrial is a continuation of a prosecution that was already instituted” (7)
“the concept of abandonment adopted by this court in Quitog does not apply” (15)
“a trial court’s decision resolving the issue of whether to give or withhold certain jury instructions is not a “resolution . . . of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged” and, thus, does not constitute an acquittal.” (23)
“the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying Deedy’s motion to dismiss after “balancing the interest of the state against fundamental fairness to a defendant with the added ingredient of the orderly functioning of the court system.”” (55)
“Accordingly, Deedy is not immune from state prosecution under the Supremacy Clause.” (60)
Factual background
During an altercation at a Waikīkī fast-food restaurant on November 5, 2011, Christopher Deedy fatally shot Kollin Elderts. Deedy was charged with second-degree murder and a firearm offense. After the first trial ended in a deadlocked jury and mistrial, the second jury acquitted Deedy of second-degree murder but deadlocked on reckless manslaughter and first- and second-degree assault, prompting the State to seek a third trial on those included offenses.
Procedural history
Deedy was indicted for second-degree murder and a firearm offense. The first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, and the second trial resulted in an acquittal on second-degree murder but a deadlock on reckless manslaughter and first- and second-degree assault. The circuit court denied motions to dismiss based on double jeopardy, Hawaiʻi statutory provisions, State v. Moriwake, the Hawaiʻi Constitution, and Supremacy Clause immunity, and authorized an interlocutory appeal. The Supreme Court affirmed and remanded for further proceedings.
Remand instructions
The case was remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion, including the proceedings necessary to conduct the permitted retrial.