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State v. Isomura11/4/1992
OPINION OF THE COURT BY WATANABE, J.
In this appeal, we are called to determine which sentencing statute controls: Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 706-610(2) (Supp. 1991), which treats every felony defined outside the Hawaii Penal Code as a class C felony for sentencing purposes; or HRS § 291C-12(b) (1985), which provides that any person who commits the felony of Failure to Stop at the Scene of Accident Involving Death or Personal Injury (Failure to Stop) shall be "fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both."
We conclude that HRS § 706-610(2) controls. Accordingly, we vacate Defendant-Appellant Ernie Isomura's (Defendant) sentence of ten years of imprisonment and remand this case for resentencing.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Following an accident in which Defendant's car struck and killed three tourist bicyclists on Molokai, Defendant was convicted by a jury of three counts of Negligent Homicide in the Third Degree, HRS § 707-704 (Supp. 1991), a misdemeanor; one count of Failure to Stop, HRS § 291C-12(a) (1985), a felony; and one count of Storage of Opened Container Containing Intoxicating Liquor, HRS § 291-3.3 (Supp. 1991), a violation.
The trial Judge thereafter sentenced Defendant to a jail term of one year each for the three Negligent Homicide counts, and an indeterminate term of ten years of imprisonment for the Failure to Stop offense, all sentences to be served concurrently. The Judge also imposed a $500 fine for the Storage of Opened Container Containing Intoxicating Liquor count and permanently revoked Defendant's driver's license. Defendant filed a timely appeal.
DISCUSSION
Defendant's sole contention on appeal is that the trial court improperly applied HRS § 291C-12(a) in sentencing him to a ten-year prison term for the Failure to Stop count. Defendant argues that the trial court should instead have sentenced him to a five-year term of imprisonment pursuant to HRS §§ 706-610(2) (Supp. 1991) and 706-660 (Supp. 1991).
When Defendant was indicted for the Failure to Stop offense on May 21, 1990, HRS § 291C-12(b) (1985) provided for penalties of a fine of "not more than $1,000 or imprisonment of not more than ten years, or both." However, HRS § 706-610(2) (Supp. 1991), part of the Hawaii Penal Code (Code), provides:
(2) A felony defined by any statute of this State other than this Code shall constitute for the purpose of sentence a class C felony, except if another provision of law specifically defines a felony to be of a specified class as defined by this Code, such felony shall be treated for the purpose of sentence as provided by this chapter for that class of felony.
The maximum prison term for a class B felony is ten years and for a class C felony, five years. HRS § 706-660 (Supp. 1991).
Defendant essentially argues that: (1) an HRS § 291C-12(a) Failure to Stop offense is clearly a felony as defined in HRS § 701-107(2), since a person convicted thereof may be sentenced, pursuant to HRS § 291C-12(b), to a prison term in excess of one year; (2) HRS § 291C-12(b), which defines the Failure to Stop offense as a felony, clearly is a statute outside the Code; (3) HRS § 291C-12(b) does not fall within the HRS § 706-610(2) exception because it does not specifically define the Failure to Stop offense as
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