Opinion ID: 1375362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Statutory Scheme Subsequent to the '86 and '87 Amendments

Text: In 1986 and 1987, the legislature amended numerous portions of the Code. See 1986 Haw. Sess. L. Act 314, passim; 1987 Haw. Sess. L. Act 181, passim. The relevant changes are described below. The previous murder statute, HRS § 707-701 (1985), was amended to bifurcate the unitary offense of murder into first and second degree murder. Under the current scheme, HRS § 707-701 (1993) now governs only murder in the first degree. Murder in the second degree is now codified in HRS § 707-701.5 (1993) and provides: Murder in the second degree. (1) Except as provided in section 707-701, a person commits the offense of murder in the second degree if the person intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another person. (2) Murder in the second degree is a felony for which the defendant shall be sentenced to imprisonment as provided in section 706-656. (Bold emphasis in original.) (Underscored emphasis added.) In amending the statute, the legislature graded murder in the second degree as a felony, but without any specification of class. Thus, the new offense of second degree murder is an unclassified felony. The amendments also created, in addition to the new offenses of first and second degree murder, the new offenses of attempted first and second degree murder (collectively, the new homicide offenses). HRS § 701-107(1) (1985) was also amended to reflect all of the new homicide offenses as unclassified felonies. HRS § 701-107 (1993) provides in pertinent part: Grades and classes of offenses. (1) .... Crimes are of three grades: felonies, misdemeanors, and petty misdemeanors. Felonies include murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the first and second degrees, and the following three classes: class A, class B, and class C. (Bold emphasis in original.) (Underscored emphasis added.) Additionally, HRS § 706-610 (1985) was amended to exempt the new homicide offenses from classification for sentencing purposes. HRS § 706-610 (1993) provides: Classes of felonies. (1) Apart from first and second degree murder and attempted first and second degree murder, felonies defined by this Code are classified, for the purpose of sentence, into three classes, as follows: (a) Class A felonies; (b) Class B felonies; and (c) Class C felonies. A felony is a class A, class B, or class C felony when it is so designated by this Code. Except for first and second degree murder and attempted first and second degree murder, a crime declared to be a felony, without specification of class, is a class C felony. (Bold emphasis in original.) (Underscored emphases added.) The new homicide offenses were specifically enumerated in HRS § 701-108 (1993) as being excepted from any statute of limitations: Time Limitations. (1) A prosecution for murder, murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder, and attempted murder in the first and second degrees may be commenced at any time. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, prosecutions for other offenses are subject to the following periods of limitation: .... (b) A prosecution for a class A felony must be commenced within six years after it is committed; (c) A prosecution for any other felony must be commenced within three years after it is committed. (Bold emphasis in original.) (Underscored emphasis added). Finally, new sentencing provisions were created for the new homicide offenses under HRS § 706-656 (1993), which provides in relevant part: Terms of imprisonment for first and second degree murder and attempted first and second degree murder. .... (2) Persons convicted of second degree murder and attempted second degree murder shall be sentenced to life imprisonment with possibility of parole. (Bold emphasis in original.) The 1986 and 1987 legislative enactments, however, did not specify any changes to the offense of criminal conspiracy, and therein lies the source of confusion in this case.