No. 28230 (March 30, 2009)
Opinion pdf
OPINION OF THE COURT BY WATANABE, PRESIDING J.
This appeal stems from a judgment entered by the District Court of the Third Circuit (district court) on October 4, 2006, convicting and sentencing Defendant-Appellant Chito Asuncion (Asuncion) for criminal contempt of court (criminal contempt) in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 710-1077 (1993), as a result of Asuncion's violation of a no-contact condition of his probation sentence. The criminal-contempt charge was filed against Asuncion after his probation period had expired and it was no longer possible to revoke probation.
Asuncion asserts that the district court: (1) erred in convicting him of criminal contempt because the proper penalty for violating a condition of probation is probation revocation; (2) unlawfully subjected him to an extension of his probation and additional punishment; and (3) erred in convicting him of criminal contempt because he was never given notice that if he violated a term or condition of his probation, he would be subject to a criminal-contempt charge after his probation period had expired. [footnote omitted]