Ernest Holmes v. State of Hawaiʻi

Summary

The Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Ernest Holmes's petition to terminate his lifetime sex-offender registration requirement. The court held that, as a Tier 3 repeat offender under Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 846E-10, Holmes could not petition for termination until forty years after his release, which would be in March 2050. The court also held that Holmes waived his constitutional challenges by raising them for the first time on appeal.

Holdings

1. A Tier 3 repeat offender must register for life and may not petition for termination until the statutory forty-year period has elapsed from the later of release or sentencing for the most recent covered offense. Because Holmes was released in March 2010, he could not petition until March 2050.
2. The circuit court did not err by denying Holmes's termination petition without a hearing because he was statutorily ineligible to petition before March 2050.
3. Holmes waived his constitutional challenges by failing to raise them in the circuit court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a Tier 3 repeat sex offender released in March 2010 was statutorily eligible in 2024 to petition for termination of lifetime sex-offender registration requirements.
2. Whether the circuit court erred by denying the termination petition without a hearing.
3. Whether Holmes could raise constitutional challenges to the lifetime-registration scheme for the first time on appeal.

Disposition

affirmed