Opinion ID: 1443938
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statutory basis for appellate jurisdiction

Text: The right to an appeal is strictly statutory. See, e.g., State v. Dannenberg, 74 Haw. 75, 837 P.2d 776, reconsideration denied, 843 P.2d 144 (1992). Appeals from the district court, in criminal cases, are authorized by HRS § 641-12, which, as previously noted, provides in pertinent part that [a]ppeals upon the record shall be allowed from all final decisions and final judgments of district courts in all criminal matters. (Emphasis added.) Although interlocutory appeals in criminal matters may be taken to the supreme court from the circuit courts, [6] there is no analogous statute authorizing interlocutory appeals from the district courts in criminal matters. See Valiani, 57 Haw. at 135, 552 P.2d at 76; Corpus, 62 Haw. at 297, 613 P.2d at 362. Ontiveros argues, however, that his appeal from the district court's order denying his motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds is authorized by HRS § 602-5(1) (1993) and by our holding in Baranco. HRS § 602-5(1), alone, does not confer jurisdiction over this appeal. It provides that [t]he supreme court shall have jurisdiction and powers ... [t]o hear and determine all questions of law, or of mixed law and fact, which are properly brought before it on any appeal allowed by law from any other court or agency. HRS § 602-5(1) (emphasis added). In other words, there must be some independent basis for appellate jurisdiction. Apparently, Ontiveros's argument is that our holding in Baranco provides that independent basis. In this case, as previously noted, the district court reasoned that Baranco applied only to collateral orders of the circuit courts and was not applicable to the district courts. We need not, however, determine whether the collateral order exception to the final judgment rule has any application to appeals from collateral orders of the district courts because, in this case, the order appealed from does not satisfy the prerequisites of a collateral order enumerated in Baranco and the case upon which it relied, Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 97 S.Ct. 2034, 52 L.Ed.2d 651 (1977).