No. 28736 (Nov. 19, 2008)
Opinion [pdf]
OPINION OF THE COURT BY ACOBA, J.
We hold that (1) the plain language of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 353-20 (1993) expressly authorizes Respondent/Defendant-Appellee Department of Public Safety (DPS or Respondent) to maintain only one individual trust account for prisoners pertaining to sums collected while committed, (2) Respondent violated HRS § 353-20 because it maintained two accounts with respect to Petitioner/Plaintiff-Appellant Richard Blaisdell (Petitioner), one of which restricted withdrawals to purposes determined by Respondent, and (3) interest accrued on Petitioner's accounts must be paid. Inasmuch as the Intermediate Court of Appeals (the ICA) erred in holding to the contrary as to aforesaid items (1), (2), and (3), the August 6, 2008 judgment of the ICA is vacated, the August 29, 2007 final judgment of the circuit court of the first circuit (the court) is reversed, and the case is remanded to the court for disposition consistent with this opinion. Petitioner's claim that medical co-payment deductions from one of his accounts were illegal is not considered inasmuch as the court did not rule on this claim.
Petitioner filed an application for writ of certiorari on August 25, 2008, seeking review of the ICA's judgment filed on August 6, 2008, pursuant to its July 18, 2008 memorandum opinion vacating the court's August 29, 2007 final judgment in favor of Respondent and affirming in part and vacating and remanding in part the court's August 29, 2007 "Order (1) Granting [Petitioner's] Motion for Joinder of Action; (2) Denying [Petitioner's] Motion for Summary Judgment; & (3) Granting [Respondent's] Cross Motion for Summary Judgment." Blaisdell v. Dep't of Pub. Safety, No. 28736, 2008 WL 2815552, at *4 (App. Jul. 18, 2008) (mem.). [footnotes omitted]
