Opinion ID: 4412702
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Officer Heyworth’s Testimony

Text: Officer Heyworth testified that on June 4, 2013, he was assigned to patrol the Waikîkî area. He stated that part of the patrol area included the area around 2801 Coconut Avenue, which was “a particular hot spot, that block.” He testified that when he arrived at the address around 7:00 a.m., he noticed “discarded embers from a fire, um, meat, cooked meat strewn everywhere, and, uh, beer bottles. [He] also noticed a male about five to six feet away from them, uh, laying down.” He identified the male as Weldon. Officer Heyworth stated that he approached Weldon because he “wanted to address, uh, the items, see, you know, if they were his. So I just went up to him to talk to him.” Upon approaching Weldon, Officer Heyworth noticed that Weldon was mumbling, slow to respond, and not necessarily cooperative when 4 However, a police officer later testified that the beach area where Weldon was lying down was accessible to the public. The officer did not check to determine whether there were signs indicating that the concrete slab or retaining wall where Weldon was lying was private property. He also stated that no trespass case was created against Weldon. 5 The Honorable Lono J. Lee presided. 6  FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER  he was asked for his name and identification. Weldon eventually went into his backpack and provided him with a VA medical card. By this time, Officer Wilson had also arrived on the scene. Officer Heyworth explained that after handing over his VA medical card, Weldon continued to grasp something inside the backpack. While Officer Heyworth could not see what he was grasping, he ordered Weldon to remove his hand from the backpack. When Weldon refused to remove his hand from the backpack, Officer Heyworth stated that Officer Wilson attempted to grab the backpack away, and when he succeeded in pulling the bag away, a collapsible baton fell on the concrete area beside Weldon. Officer Heyworth testified that Weldon picked the baton up “and brought it to the right ear, his right ear, and brandished it in a manner as if to strike me or Officer Wilson.” Recognizing the baton as a deadly weapon, Officer Heyworth told Weldon to drop the baton and that he was under arrest. On cross-examination, defense counsel asked Officer Heyworth why he had visited 2801 Coconut Avenue that morning. Officer Heyworth responded that there were general complaints from residents in the area about a high level of burglaries, so he was “making checks of the area.” Officer Heyworth clarified that he was not responding to any specific complaint or call. 7  FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER  Defense counsel then showed Officer Heyworth a photograph of the beach side of 2801 Coconut Avenue and asked him to indicate where he saw Weldon and where he saw the items that led him to further investigate Weldon. Officer Heyworth responded that Weldon may have been lying down towards the right side of the photograph, and that the “discarded embers from a fire” were not in the area depicted by the photograph. He testified that there was no “fire pit or barbecue grill” in the area. He further stated that at the time that he approached Weldon, Weldon was not drinking any beer or alcohol, was not eating any food, and was not using illicit drugs. Officer Heyworth testified that he approached Weldon to “address his welfare after observing those items.” Defense counsel asked, “just to clarify, based on the observations of the beverage containers, the residue of the fire, and the disregarded meat, those were the - I guess the factors that led you to believe that there was some type of criminal activity going on?” Officer Heyworth responded, “I wanted to determine if they were - they were his.” When asked whether he had ever questioned Weldon about whether the items were his, Officer Heyworth responded that “[t]he first thing I asked was his name I believe.” 8  FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER