Opinion ID: 1375362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Circuit Court's Ruling

Text: On October 18, 1994, the circuit court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss and entered the following relevant findings of fact (FOF), conclusions of law (COL): FINDINGS OF FACT .... 10. By Act 314 of the 1986 Session Laws, the Legislature created the offenses of Murder in the First Degree and Murder in the Second Degree out of the previous catchall offense of Murder, and explicitly set forth the terms of imprisonment for Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Murder in the First Degree, and Attempted Murder in the Second Degree. 11. Neither Act 314 nor its legislative history contains any reference to the offense of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder. 12. By Act 181 of the 1987 Session Laws, the Legislature removed Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Murder in the First Degree, and Attempted Murder in the Second Degree from the Class A Felony category, and explicitly provided that a prosecution for these offenses could commence at any time. Previously, the offense of Attempted Murder had a six-year limitations period. 13. Neither Act 181 nor its legislative history contains any reference to the offense of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Statutes of limitations are acts of grace conferred by the sovereign which limit the State's right to prosecute a person for a crime. State v. Russell, 62 Haw. 474 [617 P.2d 84] (1980). 2. HRS Section 701-108, is the statute of limitation for crimes defined by the Hawaii Penal Code. It specifies the limitation periods for murder and attempted murder and for the other felony classes. 3. It is clear that prior to January 1, 1987, Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder was a Class B Felony punishable by a maximum ten-year term of imprisonment and having a three-year limitations period. State v. Reyes, 5 Haw.App. 651, 652, 706 P.2d 1326 (1985); Section 701-108(2)(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes. 4. By its specific reference to Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Murder in the First Degree, and Attempted Murder in the Second Degree in its enactment of Act 314 and Act 181, and its conspicuous omission of any reference to the offense of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder in these enactments, the Legislature has created an ambiguity in the Penal Code. 5. By its specific inclusion of the inchoate offenses of Attempted Murder in the First Degree and Attempted Murder in the Second Degree in Act 314 and Act 181, in spite of the provisions of Section 705-502 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes which grants Attempted Murder the same class and grade as Murder, the Legislature has demonstrated that it did not intend to elevate the punishment and limitations period for Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder, sub silentio, by way of the same class and grade language of Section 705-526(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes. 6. Because of the extreme inchoate nature of the offense of Criminal Conspiracy, conspiracy offenses above the Class B Felony level should not carry the same penalty as the substantive offense which is the object of the conspiracy. Commentary on Section 705-526, Hawaii Revised Statutes. 7. Defendant Dacosin points out an ambiguity in the statute and argues that since the object of the alleged criminal conspiracy is murder in the second degree and since murder in the second degree is a felony grade offense without a class designation, HRS § 701-107 and HRS § 706-610(1), then the alleged criminal conspiracy is a felony grade offense without a class designation, with a three year limitation period. 8. For statute of limitation purposes, a conspiracy terminates when the crime which is its object is committed. HRS § 705-525. The alleged conspiracy terminated on the date of Eric Kamanu's alleged death on August 4, 1989. The statute of limitations for the alleged conspiracy began to run the day after Kamanu's death: August 5, 1989. HRS § 701-108(4). 9. The statute of limitations for the alleged criminal conspiracy ran on August 5, 1992. The original indictment was returned on July 8, 1993, 11 months and 4 days after the running of the statute of limitations. 10. Any ambiguity in a penal statute must be construed in favor of lenity, United States v. Bass, 404 U.S. 336, 347 [92 S.Ct. 515, 522, 30 L.Ed.2d 488] (1971), particularly where the ambiguity relates to a sentencing issue, Busic v. United States, 446 U.S. 398, 406-407 [100 S.Ct. 1747, 1752-1753, 64 L.Ed.2d 381] (1980). 11. To increase the penalty and limitations period for the offense of Criminal Conspiracy to commit Murder would be improper absent clear and definite legislative directive. Busic v. United States, 446 U.S. 398, 406-407 [100 S.Ct. 1747, 1752-1753, 64 L.Ed.2d 381] (1980); Simpson v. United States, 435 U.S. 6, 15-16 [98 S.Ct. 909, 914-915, 55 L.Ed.2d 70] (1978). 12. A secondary conspiracy to conceal cannot extend the life of a primary conspiracy beyond the commission of the substantive offense which is its object unless there is evidence of an express original agreement to conceal. Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U.S. 440 [69 S.Ct. 716, 93 L.Ed. 790] (1949); Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391 [77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931] (1957). 13. There was no evidence presented to the Grand Jury of an express ordinal agreement to conceal which existed prior to the commission of the primary substantive crime of murder, such that the conspiracy in this case could be extended beyond the commission of the alleged murder. 14. With the enactment of Acts 314 and 181, the relevant statutory provisions have become vague and ambiguous as to whether Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder remains a Class B Felony or whether it is indistinguishable from the offense of Murder in regards to penalty and the limitation period. 15. Defendants Aiwohi, Dacosin, and Kaakimaka are denied due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 5 of the Hawaii Constitution by the existing statutory scheme for the offense of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder, which fails to provide adequate notice of the penalty for the offense and the appropriate limitations period. 16. The statutory scheme for the offense of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder is void for vagueness. State v. Bloss, 62 Haw. 147, 150-151, 613 P.2d 354 (1980).