Court Opinion

ID: 9930844
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-07 20:05:49.946805+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:04:25.956188
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

                                            Electronically Filed
                                            Intermediate Court of Appeals
                                            CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
                                            07-FEB-2024
                                            08:28 AM
                                            Dkt. 32 OGMD
                          NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

                 IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

                        OF THE STATE OF HAWAI I

               STATE OF HAWAI I, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.
                 UTTARA DASI LANGE, Defendant-Appellee

          APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SECOND CIRCUIT
                       (CASE NO. 2CPC-XX-XXXXXXX)

                ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL
 (By:     Leonard, Acting Chief Judge, Nakasone and McCullen, JJ.)
             Upon consideration of Defendant-Appellee Uttara Dasi
Lange's (Lange) January 24, 2024 Motion to Dismiss Appeal, the
papers in support and in opposition, and the record, it appears
that:
             (1) On October 5, 2023, the Circuit Court of the Second
Circuit (Circuit Court) entered a "Proposed Findings of Fact,
Conclusions of Law for [Lange]'s Motion to Dismiss" (Dismissal
Order) dismissing the charges in the underlying case;
             (2) On October 20, 2023, the Circuit Court entered an
"Amended Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for [Lange]'s
Motion to Dismiss" (Amended Dismissal Order), with the only
change being the inclusion of case number references in the
findings of fact;
             (3) On November 16, 2023, Plaintiff-Appellant State of
Hawai i (State) filed a notice of appeal from the Amended
Dismissal Order, pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes § 641-13(1)
(2016);
             (4) Lange seeks dismissal of the appeal for lack of
jurisdiction, arguing that the time to appeal ran from entry of
  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

the Dismissal Order, and therefore, the notice of appeal was not
timely filed in accordance with Hawai i Rules of Appellate
Procedure (HRAP) Rule 4(b)(1);
          (5) Because the order was not "amended in a material
and substantial respect," the 30-day deadline to appeal under
HRAP Rule 4(b)(1) ran from entry of the Dismissal Order, not the
Amended Dismissal Order, see State v. Mainaaupo, 117 Hawai i 235,
246 n.6, 178 P.3d 1, 12 n.6 (2008) (citation omitted); Weisenberg
v. University of Hawai i, 138 Hawai i 210, 216, 378 P.3d 926, 932
(2016); thus, the State's appeal is untimely; and
          (6) Compliance with the requirement of timely filing a
notice of appeal is jurisdictional.     Grattafiori v. State, 79
Hawai i 10, 13, 897 P.2d 937, 940 (1995).
          Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the motion is
granted, and the appeal is dismissed.
          DATED:   Honolulu, Hawai i, February 7, 2024.

                                      /s/ Katherine G. Leonard
                                      Acting Chief Judge

                                      /s/ Karen T. Nakasone
                                      Associate Judge

                                      /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
                                      Associate Judge

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