Opinion ID: 1250910
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Amount of Cash Found on Victim's Person was Irrelevant.

Text: Kupihea next asserts that the circuit court erred by ruling that the evidence that Kalai was found to have $2,300 in cash on his person after the shooting was irrelevant and thus inadmissible. [D]ifferent standards of review must be applied to trial court decisions regarding the admissibility of evidence, depending on the requirements of the particular rule of evidence at issue. When application of a particular evidentiary rule can yield only one correct result, the proper standard for appellate review is the right/wrong standard. Kealoha v. County of Hawai`i, 74 Haw. 308, 319, 844 P.2d 670, 676, reconsideration denied, 74 Haw. 650, 847 P.2d 263 (1993). Where the evidentiary ruling at issue concerns admissibility based on relevance, under Hawaii Rules of Evidence (HRE) Rules 401 and 402, the proper standard of appellate review is the right/wrong standard. See State v. Toro, 77 Hawai`i 340, 347, 884 P.2d 403, 410 (Haw.Ct.App.), cert. denied, 77 Hawai`i 489, 889 P.2d 66 (1994). HRE Rule 402 provides in pertinent part that [e]vidence which is not relevant is inadmissible. Relevant evidence is defined in HRE Rule 401 as evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Stated alternatively, evidence is relevant if it possesses a legitimate tendency to establish a controverted fact. State v. Irebaria, 55 Haw. 353, 356, 519 P.2d 1246, 1249 (1974) (citation omitted). Although frequently articulated as a single determination, the relevance inquiry requires a two-step analysis: (1) is the fact for which the evidence is proffered of consequence to the determination of the action; and (2) does the proffered evidence tend to alter the probability of that fact. Evidence is relevant only if both prongs are satisfied. Notwithstanding that the evidence may tend to make a fact more probable, if the fact is not of consequence to the determination, the evidence is irrelevant. In State v. Pinero, 75 Haw. 282, 859 P.2d 1369 (1993), for example, the defendant was convicted of first degree murder for the killing of a police officer arising out of the performance of official duties. [5] The defendant sought to adduce evidence that the officer did not have a search warrant and so was not in the performance of official duties. The trial court found that the evidence was arguably relevant, but excluded it under HRE Rule 403. [6] On appeal, this court upheld the ruling, but also held that the evidence was irrelevant. The question is not whether [the officer] was performing his duties properly, but whether [the defendant] believed that [the officer's] actions were prompted by his official duties. Id. at 289, 859 P.2d at 1373. In other words, even though the proffered evidence would tend to establish that the search was not authorized, the propriety of the search was not a fact of consequence to the determination of the action. See also State v. Malufau, 80 Hawai`i 126, 906 P.2d 612 (1995) (testimony that injury would have caused serious permanent disfigurement if left unattended irrelevant in assault trial because fact of consequence was whether such disfigurement actually resulted); Kealoha, 74 Haw. at 322, 844 P.2d at 677 (because Hawai`i does not recognize a common law tort duty for a motorcyclist to wear a helmet, evidence that an injured motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet irrelevant to show contributory negligence); Johnson v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 69 Haw. 287, 740 P.2d 548 (1987) (state-of-the-art evidence not admissible to establish whether manufacturer knew or should have known of the danger of the product because manufacturer's knowledge is not fact of consequence in strict products liability action). Cf. State v. Alston, 75 Haw. 517, 542, 865 P.2d 157, 169 (1994) (evidence of defendant's statements, although not communicated to complaining witness, was relevant as direct evidence of material element of terroristic threatening). In this case, the circuit court ruled that the evidence of the wallet and cash discovered after the shooting was irrelevant because it did not increase the probability that the victim, Kalai, was a drug dealer who carried a weapon at the time of the shooting. Although that conclusion may be arguable, it is beside the point because it is Kupihea's state of mind at the time of the shooting and the reasonableness thereof that is the fact of consequence to the determination of the action. The theory of Kupihea's defense was that he was justified in using deadly force, or did so under an extreme mental or emotional disturbance, because he saw a gun in Kalai's hand and believed that Kalai was going to shoot him. Had Kupihea asserted, instead, that he believed Kalai was carrying a concealed weapon and that he believed Kalai was about to reach for that weapon to shoot him, we might conclude that the amount of cash was relevant to a fact of consequence. However, under Kupihea's theory as propounded at trial, we believe the evidence was irrelevant to any fact of consequence. The facts that are of consequence to self-defense and extreme mental or emotional disturbance manslaughter (EMED manslaughter) [7] are found in the applicable statutes. See Alston, 75 Haw. at 540-41, 865 P.2d at 168-69. HRS § 703-304(2) (1993) provides that [t]he use of deadly force is justifiable under this section if the actor believes that deadly force is necessary to protect himself [or herself] against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy. HRS § 703-300 (1993) defines believes, within the meaning of chapter 703, as reasonably believes. HRS § 707-702(2) (1993) provides that [i]n a prosecution for murder in the first and second degrees[,] it is a defense, which reduces the offense to manslaughter, that the defendant was, at the time he [or she] caused the death of the other person, under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is a reasonable explanation. The reasonableness of the explanation shall be determined from the viewpoint of a person in the defendant's situation under circumstances as he [or she] believed them to be. (Emphasis added.) The facts of consequence to the determination of self-defense or EMED manslaughter all concern the actor's state of mind: (1) whether the actor reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary; and (2) whether the actor reasonably believed that he or she was threatened with one of the specified harms; or (3) whether he or she was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance; and (4) whether there is a reasonable explanation for the extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Kupihea's belief that Kalai was about to shoot him, and the reasonableness of that belief, are facts of consequence both to self-defense and EMED manslaughter. Kupihea's theory of self-defense and extreme mental or emotional disturbance was supported by his own testimony that he saw Kalai with a gun in his hand and that Kalai turned and pointed the gun at him. Such testimony was probative of facts of consequence, that is, Kupihea's reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary because he was threatened with death or serious bodily injury, or that he was under the influence of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation. Even if we were to make the inferences urged by Kupihea that (1) the cash increased the probability that Kalai was a drug dealer, which, in turn, (2) increased the probability that Kalai was carrying a concealed weapon, we emphasize that, under the theory advanced by Kupihea at trial, the issue was whether Kupihea's belief that Kalai had a gun in his hand and was about to shoot him was reasonable. The amount of cash concealed on Kalai's person had no tendency to affect the probability of that belief or its reasonableness, especially where Kupihea admitted that he was unaware of the concealed cash at the time. We therefore hold that the circuit court was right in excluding the evidence of the cash because, under Kupihea's defense as propounded at trial, the evidence was irrelevant.