State v. U'u

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
04-APR-2025
07:56 AM
Dkt. 60 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
KAEO THOMAS U#U, Defendant-Appellant

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE SECOND CIRCUIT
WAILUKU DIVISION
(CASE NO. 2DTC-22-607475)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Leonard, Acting Chief Judge, Hiraoka and Nakasone, JJ.)

Kaeo Thomas U#u appeals from the November 3, 2022
Amended Judgment and Notice of Entry of Judgment entered by the
District Court of the Second Circuit, Wailuku Division.1 U#u
challenges the Order and Notice of Entry of Order denying his
motion to dismiss the second amended complaint filed by the State
of Hawai#i. We affirm.
On April 29, 2022, U#u was stopped by a Maui Police
Department officer for driving without a seatbelt. He was unable
to produce a driver's license. On May 17, 2022, the State filed
an amended complaint charging U#u with Operating a Vehicle After
License and Privilege Have Been Suspended or Revoked for
Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant in
violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 291E-62(a)(1). U#u

1
The Honorable Blaine J. Kobayashi presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

moved to dismiss on July 28, 2022. He argued, among other
things, his violation was de minimis.
On August 8, 2022, the State filed a second amended
complaint. The second amended complaint charged U#u with
violating HRS § 291E-62(a)(1) and/or (2).
The motion to dismiss was heard on August 18, 2022.
The State represented it would not be proceeding under HRS
§ 291E-62(a)(1). The district court denied the motion to
dismiss, ordered the State to file a third amended complaint, and
set a further arraignment and plea hearing. The Order denying
the motion to dismiss was entered on August 18, 2022.
The third amended complaint was filed on August 18,
2022. It charged U#u with violating HRS § 291E-62(a)(2) only.
Trial was held on September 28, 2022. The district court found
U#u guilty as charged. The Amended Judgment was entered on
November 3, 2022.
U#u appeals. He argues the district court erred by
denying his motion to dismiss for de minimis violation. We
review for abuse of discretion. State v. Pacquing, 129 Hawai#i
172, 179, 297 P.3d 188, 195 (2013).
HRS § 702-236(1)(b) (2014) provides:

(1) The court may dismiss a prosecution if, having regard
to the nature of the conduct alleged and the nature of the
attendant circumstances, it finds that the defendant's
conduct:

. . . .

(b) Did not actually cause or threaten the harm or
evil sought to be prevented by the law defining
the offense or did so only to an extent too
trivial to warrant the condemnation of
conviction[.]

"[O]ur inquiry into the harm or evil sought to be
prevented by a statute relies primarily on the plain language of
the statute itself." Pacquing, 129 Hawai#i at 180, 297 P.3d at
196. HRS § 291E-62 (2020) provided, in relevant part:

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(a) No person whose license and privilege to operate a
vehicle have been revoked, suspended, or otherwise
restricted pursuant to this section or to part III
[(Administrative Revocation Process)] or section 291E–61
[(Operating a Vehicle under the Influence of an Intoxicant
(OVUII))] or 291E–61.5 [(Habitually OVUII)] . . . shall
operate or assume actual physical control of any vehicle:

(1) In violation of any restrictions placed on the
person's license;
(2) While the person's license or privilege to
operate a vehicle remains suspended or revoked;
(3) Without installing an ignition interlock device
required by this chapter; or

(4) With an ignition interlock permit unless the
person has the ignition interlock permit in the
person's immediate possession.

The plain language of HRS § 291E-62 shows the harm or
evil it sought to prevent was a person whose driver's license has
been revoked for OVUII driving a vehicle without an installed
ignition interlock device and an ignition interlock permit.
U#u doesn't dispute that his driver's license was
administratively revoked on April 29, 2022. He argued an
ignition interlock device had been installed in his pickup truck
and was in use on April 29, 2022; he had applied for, but not yet
received, an ignition interlock permit under HRS § 291E-61(i);2
and his not having the permit on April 29, 2022, was trivial
because he received it two weeks later. His conduct was "the
harm or evil sought to be prevented by" the plain language of HRS

2
HRS § 291E-61 (2020) provides, in relevant part:

(i) Upon proof that the defendant has:
(1) Installed an ignition interlock device in any
vehicle the defendant operates pursuant to
subsection (b); and

(2) Obtained motor vehicle insurance or self-
insurance that complies with the requirements
under either section 431:10C-104 or section
431:10C-105,
the court shall issue an ignition interlock permit that will
allow the defendant to drive a vehicle equipped with an
ignition interlock device during the revocation period.

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§ 291E-62(a)(2) and his violation was not trivial. Cf. State v.
Melendez, 146 Hawai#i 391, 397, 463 P.3d 1048, 1054 (2020)
(holding that if possessed drugs are neither usable nor saleable
and attendant circumstances don't otherwise demonstrate
defendant's violation caused harm statute criminalizing promoting
a dangerous drug in the third decree seeks to prevent, de minimis
dismissal is warranted).
We conclude the district court acted within its
discretion by denying U#u's motion to dismiss for de minimis
violation. The Amended Judgment entered by the district court on
November 3, 2022, is affirmed.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, April 4, 2025.
On the briefs:
/s/ Katherine G. Leonard
Toan V. Nguyen, Acting Chief Judge
Deputy Public Defender,
State of Hawai#i, /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
for Defendant-Appellant. Associate Judge

Renee Ishikawa Delizo, /s/ Karen T. Nakasone
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Associate Judge
County of Maui,
for Plaintiff-Appellee.

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