NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

NO. CAAP-20-0000419

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR THE

REGISTERED HOLDERS OF MORGAN STANLEY ABS CAPITAL I, INC. TRUST

2007-NC4 MORTGAGE PASS TROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2207-NC4,

Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GINA LEE OKUDA-STAURING, also known as

GINA L. STAURING, Defendant-Appellant; and EARL M. OKUDA, JR.;

DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION - STATE OF HAWAI#I; JOHN DOES 1-20;

JANE DOES 1-20; DOE CORPORATIONS 1-20; and

DOE GOVERNMENTAL UNITS 1-20, Defendants-Appellees

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

(CIVIL NO. 16-1-0065)

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL WITH PREJUDICE

(By: Ginoza, Chief Judge, Fujise and Hiraoka, JJ.) 

Upon consideration of Plaintiff-Appellee Deutsche Bank

National Trust Company's (Deutsche Bank) May 12, 2021 Motion to

Dismiss Appeal With Prejudice (May 12, 2021 Motion), selfrepresented Defendant-Appellant Gina Lee Okuda-Stauring's (OkudaStauring) May 14, 2021 Fourth Motion Extension of Opening Brief

(May 14, 2021 Motion), which the court construes as a motion for

relief from default and a fifth extension of time for the opening

brief, Okuda-Stauring's June 2, 2021 Motion for Extension to

Respond to Plaintiff-Appellee's Motion to Dismiss Appeal (June 2,

2021 Motion), the papers in support and in opposition, and the

record, it appears that: 

(1) On March 31, 2021, the court, among other things,

granted Okuda-Stauring relief from her second default and a

fourth extension of time for the opening brief to April 30, 2021,

with no further extensions. The court cautioned Okuda-Stauring a

Electronically Filed

Intermediate Court of Appeals

CAAP-20-0000419

30-JUN-2021

01:46 PM

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third time in this appeal about timely filing documents and that

future violations may result in sanctions, and that any further

default of the opening brief may result in sanctions authorized

by Hawai#i Rules of Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rule 30,

including, without limitation, monetary sanctions, the appeal

being dismissed, or both;

(2) Okuda-Stauring failed to file the opening brief or

timely request an extension, and therefore is in default a third

time in this appeal. See HRAP Rule 30;

(3) In the May 12, 2021 Motion, Deutsche Bank seeks to

dismiss the appeal with prejudice because Okuda-Stauring "has

shown a repeated pattern" of HRAP violations, and despite relief

from default twice and multiple extensions, she failed to file an

opening brief;

(4) In the May 14, 2021 Motion, Okuda-Stauring seeks

relief from default and a fifth extension of time for the opening

brief, under HRAP Rule 26(b) and (e), for thirty days because she

is self-represented, she struggled to provide record references

in the opening brief because the record on appeal is missing

scanned images of numerous documents, there was a power outage on

Kaua#i that affected her on April 29, 2021, and there are various

orders concerning foreclosure actions at the state and federal

levels;

(5) Okuda-Stauring's assertions are inconsistent with

past submissions in this case. On November 25, 2020, OkudaStauring filed an affidavit in support of her motion for

extension of time for the opening brief, where she swore under

oath that the opening brief was completed on November 20, 2020,

except for page numbers on the table of contents, and the only

reason she did not file the opening brief by November 20, 2020,

was that she had trouble logging into JEFS. Seven months later,

the opening brief has not been filed;

(6) Three times the court cautioned Okuda-Stauring to

timely file documents and that future violations may result in

sanctions. Twice it granted her relief from default of the

opening brief and cautioned her that any further default of the

opening brief could result in the appeal being dismissed, under

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HRAP Rule 30. The March 31, 2021 order stated that no further

extensions would be granted. Yet Okduda-Stauring defaulted on

the opening brief a third time and did not seek relief until

after Deutsche Bank filed a motion to dismiss the appeal;

(7) In addition, the record on appeal is not

incomplete, as Okuda-Stauring suggests. "When all documents in

the record on appeal, other than exhibits, are available in JIMS,

the clerk of the court or agency appealed from need not transmit

the physical or imaged documents, but shall file a notification

with the appellate clerk that the documents are available in

JIMS." HRAP Rule 11(b)(1). Here, the circuit court clerk

correctly filed a record on appeal with two volumes that contain

imaged documents and one volume that contains a complete copy of

the index of the JIMS record in the underlying case, with

documents electronically available through JIMS, that were not

submitted as imaged documents in the first two volumes of the

record on appeal, highlighted in yellow. Thus, the record on

appeal is complete and in compliance with HRAP Rule 11(b)(1);

(8) Further, a power outage the day before the opening

brief was due might have justified an additional day for the

opening brief, but Okuda-Stauring did not timely bring it to the

court's attention and that is not the relief she seeks here;

(9) Finally, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and

Economic Security (CARES) Act provided a nationwide moratorium on

some, but not all, foreclosure proceedings. Specifically, the

Act provided relief for "federally backed loans." Although the

foreclosure moratorium under the CARES Act has expired, federal

agencies have continued to extend the moratorium on foreclosures

of federally backed loans covered under the CARES Act. On

July 20, 2020, Deutsche Bank filed a declaration stating the

subject loan in this case is not a federally backed mortgage loan

as defined by the CARES Act. Thus, the moratorium does not apply

here. In addition, as Okuda-Stauring acknowledges, at least one

federal agency order she cites applies to evictions and renters,

which is not at issue here;

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(10) Deutsche Bank has demonstrated good cause to grant

the May 12, 2021 Motion and Okuda-Stauring fails to demonstrate

good cause to grant the May 14, 2021 Motion;

(11) In the June 2, 2021 Motion, Okuda-Stauring seeks a

first extension of time to file a response to the May 12, 2021

Motion because (a) she is self-represented; (b) this is a

"challenging time" with the pandemic; (c) she did not know

Deutsche Bank had filed the May 12, 2021 Motion "until days

later," as she "does not check her P.O. Box or email daily";

(c) she will oppose the May 12, 2021 Motion for the same reasons

stated in her May 14, 2021 Motion; and (d) she "requires more

time to find stronger cases" to support her position; and

(12) As a registered JEFS User, Okuda-Stauring is

responsible for monitoring her e-mail for notices of electronic

filings in this case. Because the court considered her May 14,

2021 Motion, there is no need to consider the same arguments in

opposition to the May 12, 2021 Motion. Okuda-Stauring fails to

demonstrate good cause for the requested relief.

Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the May 12, 2021

Motion is granted, and the appeal is dismissed with prejudice. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the May 14, 2021 Motion is

denied.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the June 2, 2021 Motion is

denied.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, June 30, 2021.

/s/ Lisa M. Ginoza

Chief Judge

/s/ Alexa D.M. Fujise

Associate Judge

/s/ Keith K. Hiraoka

Associate Judge

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