HONOLULU (AP) — Because of a recent Hawaii Supreme Court ruling, hundreds of Family Court cases are being dismissed.
HONOLULU (AP) — Because of a recent Hawaii Supreme Court ruling, hundreds of Family Court cases are being dismissed.
Last month’s ruling overturned a misdemeanor abuse conviction for Sushil Basnet because his arraignment didn’t take place at the Family Court’s circuit level. Oahu’s Family Court had a long-standing practice of having arraignments in its district court and then sending cases to its circuit court without a second arraignment there.
The high court ruled that’s a violation of Hawaii penal procedure. Defendants must be arraigned the second time to give circuit court jurisdiction to try that case, the unanimous ruling said.
State judges have dismissed more than 130 Family Court misdemeanor cases and another 100 more will be tossed out.