State v. Tengan

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
24-JUN-2022
08:30 AM
Dkt. 48 SO
NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I
STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.
JASON F. TENGAN, Defendant-Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE SECOND CIRCUIT
WAILUKU DIVISION
(CASE NO. 2DTA-20-00442)
SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Leonard, Presiding Judge, Wadsworth and McCullen, JJ.)
Defendant-Appellant Jason F. Tengan (Tengan) appeals
from the District Court of the Second Circuit, Wailuku Division's
(district court) December 9, 2020 Judgment and Notice of Entry of
Judgment.1
On appeal, Tengan contends the district court erred by
denying his Motion to Suppress because there was no reasonable
suspicion to stop his vehicle.
Upon careful review of the record and the briefs
submitted by the parties and having given due consideration to
the arguments advanced and the issues raised, we resolve Tengan's
point of error as follows, and affirm.
1
The Honorable Douglas J. Sameshima presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
The State charged Tengan with (1) Operating a Vehicle
Under the Influence of an Intoxicant (OVUII), in violation of
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 291E-61(a)(1), and/or 291E-
61(a)(3) (Supp. 2019),2 (2) Inattention to Driving, in violation
of HRS § 291-12 (Supp. 2019),3 and (3) Accidents Involving Damage
to Vehicle or Property, in violation of HRS § 291C-13 (Supp.
2019).4 After entering into a conditional guilty plea and
reserving his right to appeal, Tengan was convicted of OVUII and
Operating Generally, in violation of Maui Traffic Code (MTC)
§ 10.52.010.5
2
HRS § 291E-61 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
(a) A person commits the offense of operating a
vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant if the person
operates or assumes actual physical control of a vehicle:
(1) While under the influence of alcohol in an
amount sufficient to impair the person's normal
mental faculties or ability to care for the
person and guard against casualty;
. . . .
(3) With .08 or more grams of alcohol per two
hundred ten liters of breath[.]
3
HRS § 291-12, Inattention to Driving, provides as follows:
Whoever operates any vehicle negligently as to cause a
collision with, or injury or damage to, as the case may be,
any person, vehicle or other property shall be fined not
more than $500 or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or
both, and may be subject to a surcharge of up to $100, which
shall be deposited into the trauma system special fund.
4
HRS § 291C-13, Accidents Involving Damage to Vehicle or Property,
provides as follows:
The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting
only in damage to a vehicle or other property that is driven
or attended by any person shall immediately stop such
vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close thereto as
possible, but shall forthwith return to, and in every event
shall remain at, the scene of the accident until the driver
has fulfilled the requirements of section 291C-14. Every
stop shall be made without obstructing traffic more than is
necessary.
5
As part of the Maui County Code, MTC § 10.52.010, Operation
Generally, provides that "[e]very operator of a motor vehicle shall exercise
(continued...)
2
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
Tengan claims there was no reasonable suspicion to stop
his vehicle because Maui Police Department Officer Caleb
Guariello (Officer Guariello) "did not receive information from
[the complaining witness] that Tengan violated any offense,
criminal or otherwise. Similarly, prior to pulling Tengan's
vehicle over, the officer did not observe Tengan commit any
violations." Tengan, thus, argues that "Officer Guariello did
not have objective specific and articulable facts to support the
stop."
The Hawai#i Supreme Court "has held that a stop of a
vehicle for an investigatory purpose constitutes a seizure within
the meaning of the constitutional protection against unreasonable
searches and seizures." State v. Heapy, 113 Hawai#i 283, 290,
151 P.3d 764, 771 (2007) (citation, internal quotation marks, and
brackets omitted). A "narrowly defined exception to the warrant
requirement is that a police officer may stop an automobile and
detain its occupants if that officer has a reasonable suspicion
that the person stopped was engaged in criminal conduct." Id.(citation, internal quotation marks, emphasis, and ellipsis
omitted).
But, "the police officer must be able to point to
specific and articulable facts which, taken together with
rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that
intrusion." Id. at 291, 151 P.3d at 772 (citation and internal
quotation marks omitted). "The totality of the circumstances
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(...continued)
due care in the operation of such vehicle upon any highway in order to avoid
colliding with any vehicle, pedestrian, other object, or embankment on or off
the roadway."
3
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
measured by an objective standard, must indicate that criminal
activity is afoot." Id. at 292, 151 P.3d at 773 (citation and
emphasis omitted).
Reasonable suspicion does not require an officer to
prove every element of a crime was committed. United States v.
Blessinger, 752 F. App'x 765, 770 (11th Cir. 2018) ("[R]easonable
suspicion does not require proof that every element of the
offense has been met."); State v. Sisson, 417 P.3d 268,
No. 117,198, 2018 WL 2072802 at *3 (Kan. Ct. App. May 4, 2018)
(MO) (explaining that the state does not need to prove every
element of the crime, only show officer reasonably believed the
crime had been or was being committed based on totality of
circumstances); Texas Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Axt, 292 S.W.3d
736, 739 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009) ("The state is not required to show
an offense was actually committed or to prove every element of a
specific offense" for reasonable suspicion).
Here, Officer Guariello testified he heard over the
radio there was a motor vehicle accident at Jack in the Box at
700 Lower Main and proceeded to that location. The complaining
witness waived him down and informed him that the car that hit
her left the scene going up Lower Main towards Waena. She also
provided a description of the car, a white sedan like a Crown
Victoria with the license plate "LET 480."
Officer Guariello left the scene, and located a white
car around the intersection of Lower Main and Waena. After
confirming that the license plate matched, Officer Guariello
stopped the car and identified Tengan as the driver.
4
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
With information from the complaining witness, Officer
Guariello had specific and articulable facts that constituted
reasonable suspicion to stop Tengan. Officer Guariello knew a
motor vehicle accident was reported, he knew the description and
license plate number of the car that left the scene of the
accident, and he knew the direction in which the responsible car
drove. Officer Guariello located a car matching the description
and license plate number in the location described by the
complaining witness. Under these circumstances, Officer
Guariello had specific and articulable facts that, taken together
with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warranted
stopping Tengan.
Officer Guariello need not have been told there was
actual damage, or seen the damage himself under the circumstances
of this case. Notably, Inattentive Driving and Operation
Generally do not require damage to a vehicle. Nonetheless, the
information Officer Guariello obtained from the complaining
witness was specific enough to warrant a traffic stop. Thus, the
district court did not err by denying the Motion to Suppress.
Based on the foregoing, we affirm the district court's
December 9, 2020 Judgment and Notice of Entry of Judgment.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, June 24, 2022.
On the briefs: /s/ Katherine G. Leonard
Presiding Judge
Taryn R. Tomasa,
Deputy Public Defender, /s/ Clyde J. Wadsworth
for Defendant-Appellant. Associate Judge
Mark R. Simonds, /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Associate Judge
County of Maui,
for Plaintiff-Appellee.
5