Opinion ID: 2595567
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Judicial Review Of the Circuit Court's FOFs And COLs

Text: This court reviews the [circuit] court's conclusions of law (COLs) de novo under the right/wrong standard. Child Support Enforcement Agency v. Roe, 96 Hawai`i 1, 11, 25 P.3d 60, 70 (2001). Under this . . . standard, we examine the facts and answer the question without being required to give any weight to the trial court's answer to it. . . . Thus, a[COL] is not binding upon the appellate court and is freely reviewable for its correctness. State v. Kane, 87 Hawai`i 71, 74, 951 P.2d 934, 937 (1998). Troyer v. Adams, 102 Hawai`i 399, 409-10, 77 P.3d 83, 93-94 (2003) (quoting State v. Entrekin, 98 Hawai`i 221, 225, 47 P.3d 336, 340 (2002) (some brackets in original and some added)). On the other hand, The [circuit] court's [findings of fact (]FOFs[)] are reviewed on appeal under the clearly erroneous standard. [ In re Jane Doe, Born on May 22, 1976, 84 Hawai`i 41, 46, 928 P.2d 883, 888 (1996)] (citing State v. Naeole, 80 Hawai`i 419, 423 n. 6, 910 P.2d 732, 736 n. 6 (1996)). A FOF is clearly erroneous when (1) the record lacks substantial evidence to support the finding, or (2) despite substantial evidence in support of the finding, the appellate court is nonetheless left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. State v. Okumura, 78 Hawai`i 383, 392, 894 P.2d 80, 89 (1995) (citation omitted). `Substantial evidence' . . . is credible evidence which is of sufficient quality and probative value to enable a person of reasonable caution to support a conclusion. Doe, 84 Hawai`i at 46, 928 P.2d at 888 (quoting State v. Wallace, 80 Hawai`i 382, 391-92, 910 P.2d 695, 704-05 (1996)); see also State v. Kotis, 91 Hawai`i 319, 328, 984 P.2d 78, 87 (1999). Troyer, 102 Hawai`i at 410, 77 P.3d at 94 (quoting In re Jane Doe, Born on June 16, 1994, 101 Hawai`i 220, 227, 65 P.3d 167, 174 (2003)).