No. 27847 (Sep. 29, 2008)
Opinion [pdf]
OPINION OF THE COURT BY NAKAYAMA, J.
Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Kevin Pond ("Pond") seeks review of the Intermediate Court of Appeals' ("ICA's") October 30, 2007 judgment on appeal, issued pursuant to its October 11, 2007 opinion, see State v. Pond, 117 Hawai'i 336, 181 P.3d 415 (App. 2007), affirming the second circuit family court's ("circuit court") March 2, 2006 judgment convicting him of the offense of abuse of family or household member, in violation of Hawai'i Revised Statutes ("HRS") § 709-906 (1993 & Supp. 2004) and interference with reporting an emergency or crime ("Interference offense") in violation of HRS § 710-1010. (1993 & Supp. 2004). We accepted Pond's application for a writ of certiorari, and oral argument was held on June 5, 2008.
Pond asserts that the ICA gravely erred by concluding that the Hawai'i Rules of Evidence ("HRE") Rule 404(b) notice requirement was a "condition precedent" to (a) admitting "critical evidence of the complainant's prior attack offered to establish [Pond's] justification of self defense and to establish the complainant as the "first aggressor,'" and (b) cross examining the complainant about her marijuana use on the night of the incident, because it violated Pond's constitutional rights to present a defense and confront adverse witnesses. Pond also asserts that the ICA gravely erred by affirming the conviction where "(a) the self-defense jury instructions were incomplete and misleading and (b) the instructions defining the Interference offense failed to specify that the state of mind requirement applied to each of these elements."
Because the circuit court precluded Pond from cross-examining the complaining witness about whether she used marijuana on December 12, 2005 to show that her perception was inaccurate, it committed reversible error. Accordingly, we vacate Pond's conviction of abuse of family or household member and Interference offense, and remand for a new trial consistent with this opinion. [footnotes omitted]
Dissenting Opinion by J. Acoba [pdf]. Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by J. Duffy [pdf]
