Morris v. Cole

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAII REPORTS OR THE PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
21-NOV-2025
08:21 AM
Dkt. 33 OGMR

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

MARK MORRIS, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JIM COLE, Defendant-Appellant.

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE SECOND CIRCUIT
WAILUKU DIVISION
(CASE NO. 2DRC-XX-XXXXXXX)

ORDER
(By: Wadsworth, Presiding Judge, McCullen and Guidry, JJ.)

Upon consideration of Defendant-Appellant Jim Cole's
October 31, 2025 Motion for Reconsideration, the papers in
support, and the record, it appears as follows.
On October 21, 2025, the court entered an Order
Granting [Plaintiff-Appellee Mark Morris's] Motion to Dismiss
Appeal. The court concluded that the District Court of the
Second Circuit's June 4, 2024 Judgment for Possession is the
operative final judgment under Hawai#i Revised Statutes (HRS)
§ 641-1(a) (2016), and the court lacks appellate jurisdiction
because Cole's August 14, 2025 Notice of Appeal was not timely-
filed within thirty days of the Judgment for Possession, as
required under Rule 4(a), Hawai#i Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Cole seeks reconsideration of the dismissal, arguing,
inter alia, that he had timely expressed to the District Court
his intent to appeal, and that the District Court should not have
"bifurcate[d]" the order granting Morris's May 21, 2025 Motion
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAII REPORTS OR THE PACIFIC REPORTER

for Summary Judgment (MSJ) from the relief sought in the MSJ,
i.e., the Judgment for Possession.
Upon further review of the record, it appears the
Judgment for Possession was not the operative final judgment
under HRS § 641-1(a), as this court previously concluded.
Specifically, the record indicates a claim for damages remained
pending at the time the District Court entered the Judgment for
Possession. Accordingly, we cannot conclude that the Judgment
for Possession fully "decid[ed] all rights and liabilities of all
parties, leaving nothing further to be adjudicated." Casumpang
v. ILWU, Local 142, 91 Hawai#i 425, 426, 984 P.2d 1251, 1252
(1999). Moreover, the record indicates the District Court
certified the July 15, 2025 Order Granting [the MSJ] as an
appealable final judgment under District Court Rules of Civil
Procedure Rule 54(b).
Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion for
Reconsideration is granted. The October 21, 2025 Order Granting
Motion to Dismiss Appeal is vacated, and the appeal is
reinstated.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, November 21, 2025.

/s/ Clyde J. Wadsworth
Presiding Judge

/s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
Associate Judge

/s/ Kimberly T. Guidry
Associate Judge

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