No. 27906 (February 20, 2008)
Opinion [pdf]
OPINION OF THE COURT BY ACOBA, J.
Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Keith Daniels Gomes (Petitioner) filed an application for writ of certiorari on October 31, 2007, seeking review of the judgment of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) filed on August 2, 2007, pursuant to its Summary Disposition Order (SDO) filed on July 11, 2007, affirming the March 28, 2006 judgment of the first circuit court (the court) in Cr. No. 05-1-1181, convicting Petitioner of bribery of a Witness, Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 710-1070 (1993), and sentencing him to five years' imprisonment. We hold that the ICA erred in affirming the court's denial of Petitioner's motions for judgment of acquittal of the charge of bribery under HRS § 710-1070(1)(b) because even in viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, substantial evidence did not exist to support the jury's finding that Petitioner offered money to a potential witness with the intent to induce her to avoid service of process. [footnotes omitted]
Dissenting opinion by by Nakamura, J. [pdf]
