Court Opinion

ID: 9930361
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-06 18:04:37.292682+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:13:57.896671
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

                                             Electronically Filed
                                             Intermediate Court of Appeals
                                             CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
                                             06-FEB-2024
                                             07:54 AM
                                             Dkt. 53 SO

               NOS. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX and CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

                 IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

                       OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

                           CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

                STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellee,
                                  v.
                  LESLIE DABIS, Defendant-Appellant

          APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                      (CASE NO. 1CPC-XX-XXXXXXX)

                                 and
                           CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

                STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellee,
                                  v.
                  LESLIE DABIS, Defendant-Appellant

          APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                      (CASE NO. 1CPC-XX-XXXXXXX)

                      SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
   (By:    Hiraoka, Presiding Judge, Wadsworth and Guidry, JJ.)

            Leslie Dabis appeals from the April 5, 2023 Judgment of
Conviction and Sentence in 1CPC-XX-XXXXXXX (the 2017 Case) and
the April 5, 2023 Judgment of Conviction and Sentence in
1CPC-XX-XXXXXXX (the 2021 Case), both entered by the Circuit
  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Court of the First Circuit.1 He challenges his consecutive
sentences. We affirm.
          In the 2017 Case, Dabis pleaded no contest to
Unauthorized Control of Propelled Vehicle. In the 2021 Case, a
jury found Dabis guilty of Terroristic Threatening in the First
Degree. Dabis was sentenced to five years in prison in each
case, to run consecutively. He argues the sentences should be
vacated because the circuit court "did not adequately address"
the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 706-606 sentencing factors,
and did not explain on the record its reasons for imposing
consecutive sentences.
           A sentencing court has discretion to impose consecutive
prison sentences. HRS § 706-668.5(1) (2014); State v. Kong, 131
Hawai#i 94, 101, 315 P.3d 720, 727 (2013). When deciding whether
to impose consecutive sentences, a court must consider the
factors in HRS § 706-606 (2014). HRS § 706-668.5(2); Kong
at 101, 315 P.3d at 727. It must also state on the record its
reasons for imposing a consecutive sentence, to identify the
facts or circumstances it considered and to confirm for the
defendant, the victim, the public, and the appellate court that
the decision was deliberate, rational, and fair. Id. at 102, 315
P.3d at 728.
           During the sentencing hearing, the deputy prosecuting
attorney recited Dabis's 16 prior felony convictions since 1995.
Dabis's mother addressed the court. The court then said to her:

                THE COURT: And I know -- I mean, I know you love him,
          but all the times that he's convicted not only from the Big
          Island --
                MS. DABIS: I know.
                THE COURT: -- but over here.

                MS. DABIS: I know.
                THE COURT: It doesn't -- nothing seems to -- he's been
          given the chance to be on probation, parole, and so forth.

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          The Honorable Fa#auuga L. To#oto#o presided in both cases.

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

          I mean, Leslie doesn't seem to have -- to care about the
          law. Leslie seems to do --
                MS. DABIS: I know.
                THE COURT: -- what Leslie wants to do all these years.
          And yet you show up every time for him in court? I know you
          love him, no question, I'm not questioning that. But my
          concern at this point is that, you know, I cannot see him
          running around again in the community and doing -- allowing
          him to think that he can do whatever he wants to and get
          away with it.

                MS. DABIS: I understand.

                . . . .
                THE COURT: Now I'm thinking about the whole community.
          I am not thinking about just Leslie and you this morning.

(Emphasis added.)
          The court took judicial notice of the presentence
reports, which documented Dabis's past convictions. The court
then recited the past convictions, and that Dabis had committed
one crime while on parole. The court concluded:

          [T]hese are all the cases the defendant has been in court
          for in the past.

                So -- and to make sure and to protect the public here,
          the Court is ordering the defendant serve a consecutive --
          consecutive sentence of five years jail each in both cases
          to run con -- to run consecutive. Five years jail in [the
          2017 Case] and five years in [the 2021 Case].

Thus did the circuit court articulate a "meaningful rationale"
for each of the consecutive sentences in light of the factors in
HRS § 706-606(1) ("the history and characteristics of the
defendant") and (2)(c) ("[t]o protect the public from further
crimes of the defendant"). Kong, 131 Hawai#i at 104, 315 P.3d
at 730. The 2017 Case and the 2021 Case involved "different
events and multiple victims." State v. Bautista, 153 Hawai#i
284, 291, 535 P.3d 1029, 1036 (2023) (first citing State v.
Barrios, 139 Hawai#i 321, 325, 389 P.3d 916, 920 (2016); then
citing State v. Perry, 153 Hawai#i 185, 187, 528 P.3d 524, 526
(2023); then citing State v. Hussein, 122 Hawai#i 495, 498–99,
229 P.3d 313, 316–17 (2010); and then citing State v. Sandoval,

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

149 Hawai#i 221, 226, 487 P.3d 308, 313 (2021)). The circuit
court did not abuse its discretion by imposing consecutive
sentences in these cases.
           The "Judgment of Conviction and Sentence" in the 2017
Case and the "Judgment of Conviction and Sentence" in the 2021
Case are affirmed.
           DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, February 6, 2024.

On the briefs:
                                      /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
Walter J. Rodby,                      Presiding Judge
for Defendant-Appellant.
                                      /s/ Clyde J. Wadsworth
Benjamin Rose,                        Associate Judge
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney,
City and County of Honolulu,          /s/ Kimberly T. Guidry
for Plaintiff-Appellee.               Associate Judge

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