State v. TOMINIKO
Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals · 2010-06-30
The case involved defendant Robert N. Tominiko's appeal from a district court conviction for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (OVUII) under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 291E-61(a)(1) and (a)(3). Tominiko argued that the prosecution's charges were fatally defective for omitting the essential element that he operated the vehicle on a public way, street, road, or highway, and that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence from an allegedly unjustified investigatory stop. The Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, holding that because the sufficiency challenge was raised for the first time on appeal, the liberal construction standard applied and the charges could reasonably be construed to allege a crime; it further held that the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion under the totality of the circumstances, including the defendant's flight and other observed factors, with no suppressible fruits even if an improper seizure occurred. The court rejected the suppression claim after examining the sequence of events leading to the observation of empty beer bottles and signs of intoxication.