Opinion ID: 2517867
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: This court has stated:

Text: The accusation must sufficiently allege all of the essential elements of the offense charged. This requirement obtains whether an accusation is in the nature of an oral charge, information, indictment, or complaint, and the omission of an essential element of the crime charged is a defect in substance rather than of form. A charge defective in this regard amounts to a failure to state an offense, and a conviction based upon it cannot be sustained for that would constitute a denial of due process. This requirement may not be waived or dispensed with, and the defect is ground for reversal, even when raised for the first time on appeal. State v. Elliott, 77 Hawai`i 309, 311, 884 P.2d 372, 374 (1994) (quoting State v. Jendrusch, 58 Haw. 279, 281, 567 P.2d 1242, 1244 (1977) (citations omitted)). In Domingues, a majority of this court observed that the prefatory language of HRS § 291E-61(b)(1) through 291E-61(b)(4) describes attendant circumstances that are intrinsic to and `enmeshed' in the hierarchy of offenses that HRS § 291E-61 as a whole describes. 106 Hawai`i at 487, 107 P.3d at 416 (citing HRS § 702-205) (emphasis added). Thus, in order to convict Kekuewa of HRS § 291E-61(b)(2), the prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kekuewa (1) operate[d] or assume[d] actual physical control of the operation of [a] vehicle (2) while under the influence of alcohol in an amount sufficient to impair [his] normal mental faculties or ability to care for the person and guard against casualty[,] see State v. Cummings, 101 Hawai`i 139, 143-44, 63 P.3d 1109, 1113-14 (2003), and (3) the offense occur[red] within five years of a prior conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor under [HRS § 291E-61] or [HRS § ]291-4.4[.] Domingues, 106 Hawai`i at 487, 107 P.3d at 416. Petitioner was likewise required to charge these essential elements in order to convict Kekuewa of violating HRS § 291E-61(b)(2). See Cummings, 101 Hawai`i at 143-44, 63 P.3d at 1113-14.