State v. Pickell ( 2023 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
31-JAN-2023
08:15 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.
MICHAEL PICKELL, Defendant-Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE SECOND CIRCUIT
WAILUKU DIVISION
(CASE NO. 2DTA-21-00138)
SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Wadsworth, Presiding Judge, McCullen and Chan, JJ.)
Defendant-Appellant Michael Pickell (Pickell) appeals
from the District Court of the Second Circuit, Wailuku Division's
September 15, 2021 Judgment and Notice of Entry of Judgment.1
Pickell was convicted of Operating a Vehicle Under the
Influence of an Intoxicant, in violation of Hawaii Revised
Statutes (HRS) § 291E-61(a)(1) and/or (3) (2020), after entering
into a conditional no contest plea and reserving his right to
appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress.
Upon careful review of the record and the briefs
submitted by the parties and having given due consideration to
the issues raised and the arguments advanced, we resolve this
appeal as discussed below, and affirm.
1
The Honorable Kirstin M. Hamman presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
On January 26, 2021, Officer Rahul Mehra (Officer
Mehra) observed Pickell facing northbound in the left-turn-only
lane at the intersection of Pi#ilani Highway and Ohukai Road,
which are public roads in the County of Maui. When the light
turned green, instead of turning left from Pi#ilani Highway onto
Ohukai Road, Pickell made a U-turn going "across [the] double
solid yellow lines" and "the skipped dash white line," and
proceeded southbound on Pi#ilani Highway.
Officer Mehra testified that the lane Pickell was in
had a painted marking on it indicating "left turn only with the
directional arrow pointed in the left turn direction." There was
also a sign on the overhanging light saying "left turn only."
Based on Officer Mehra's testimony, the district court
found that Pickell made an illegal U-turn from a left-turn-only
lane. The district court then concluded that there was
reasonable suspicion to stop Pickell.
On appeal, Pickell contends that the district court
erred because there was no reasonable suspicion to justify his
warrantless traffic stop based on a U-turn. Citing to various
sections of the HRS and Maui County Code (MCC), Pickell argues
that "none of the foregoing statutes and MCC ordinances relating
to obedience to traffic signals apply to the U-turn at issue
unless there were signs or traffic signals that prohibited [him]
from making the U-turn."
In particular, Pickell relies on MCC § 10.24.140
(1965), which provides that "[w]henever authorized signs are
erected indicating that no right or left or "U" turn is
permitted, no operator of a vehicle shall disobey the directions
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
of any such sign." Pickell also relies on HRS § 291C-82(c)
(2020) requiring that the "director of transportation and the
counties . . . shall place signs which are clearly visible to an
ordinary observant person prohibiting the turning of a vehicle to
proceed in the opposite direction. . . ."
Notwithstanding, HRS chapter 291C also provides:
The director of transportation and the counties . . . may
cause official traffic-control devices to be placed within
or adjacent to intersections and thereby require and direct
that a different course from that specified in this section
be traveled by vehicles turning at an intersection, and when
such devices are so placed, no driver of a vehicle shall
turn a vehicle at an intersection other than as directed and
required by such devices.
HRS § 291C-81(3) (2020) (emphasis added).2
Additionally, HRS § 291C-31(a) (2020) provides that
"[t]he driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions of any
official traffic-control device applicable thereto placed in
accordance with the law, unless otherwise directed by a traffic
or police officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver
of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter." (Emphasis
added.) And, MCC § 10.24.100(E) (1965) provides that "[i]n all
cases where official marks, buttons, signs or directional arrows
painted on the pavement are placed within or adjacent to
intersections, no operator of a vehicle shall execute a movement
at such intersections, otherwise than as directed and required by
such marks, buttons, signs, or arrows." (Emphasis added.)
Regarding making a left turn, "after entering the
intersection, the left turn shall be made so as to leave the
2
An official traffic-control device "mean[s] all signs, signals,
markings, and devices not inconsistent with this chapter placed or erected by
authority or with the consent of a public body or official having jurisdiction
for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic." HRS § 291C-1
(2020).
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
intersection in a lane lawfully available to traffic moving in
such direction upon the roadway being entered. . . ." HRS
§ 291C-81(2) (2020). Similarly, MCC § 10.24.100(B) provides:
Approach for a left turn shall be made in that portion
of the right half of the roadway nearest the
centerline thereof, and after entering the
intersection, the left turn shall be made so as to
leave the intersection to the right of the centerline
of the roadway being entered.
Here, although there was no U-turn sign, the evidence
established that there was a left-turn-only sign hanging from the
traffic light and left-turn-only markings painted on the road.
Thus, Pickell was required to make a left turn by leaving
Pi#ilani Highway and entering to the right of the centerline on
Ohukai Road. Pickell instead made a U-turn, violating HRS
§§ 291C-31(a) and -81(3) and MCC §§ 10.24.100(B) and (E). Due to
this traffic violation, reasonable suspicion existed to conduct
an investigative stop. See State v. Estabillio, 121 Hawai#i 261,
270, 218 P.3d 749, 758 (2009).
Based on the foregoing, we affirm the district court's
September 15, 2021 Judgment and Notice of Entry of Judgment.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, January 31, 2023.
On the briefs: /s/ Clyde J. Wadsworth
Presiding Judge
William H. Jameson, Jr.,
Deputy Public Defender, /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
for Defendant-Appellant. Associate Judge
Renee Ishikawa Delizo, /s/ Derrick H.M. Chan
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Associate Judge
County of Maui,
for Plaintiff-Appellee.
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