State v. Castillon. , 443 P.3d 98 ( 2019 )

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Electronically Filed
Supreme Court
SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX
16-MAY-2019
03:00 PM
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI
---o0o---
________________________________________________________________
STATE OF HAWAIʻI,
Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
MICHELLE HELEN CASTILLON,
Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX
CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
(CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX; CASE NO. 3DTC-15-042273)
May 16, 2019
RECKTENWALD, C.J., NAKAYAMA, McKENNA, POLLACK, AND WILSON, JJ.
OPINION OF THE COURT BY WILSON, J.
I. Introduction
Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Michelle Helen
Castillon (“Castillon”) seeks review of the May 31, 2017 opinion
of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (“ICA”). State v.
Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi 242, 398 P.3d 831 (App. 2017). She
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contends that Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawaiʻi
(“State”) bore the burden to prove, pursuant to Hawaiʻi Revised
Statutes (“HRS”) § 286-102(a) (2007),1 that she did not possess a
valid driver’s license issued by Canada or a valid commercial
driver’s license issued by Canada or Mexico, which would have
exempted her from the requirement to operate a motor vehicle
with a valid Hawaiʻi driver’s license. Inasmuch as Castillon
bore the initial burden to produce “some evidence” to support an
exemption, and she failed to do so, the burden never shifted to
the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Castillon did
not have a driver’s license that qualified as an exemption.
II. Background
Castillon was stopped by Officer Aron Tomota (“Officer
Tomota”) for driving with expired safety and registration tags
on November 19, 2015. When he asked for her State of Hawaiʻi
driver’s license, Castillon was not able to provide one.
Officer Tomota issued a citation to Castillon for driving a
1
At the time of the offense, HRS § 286-102(a) provided:
No person, except one exempted under section 286-105,
one who holds an instruction permit under section 286-110,
one who holds a provisional license under section 286-
102.6, one who holds a commercial driver’s license issued
under section 286-239, or one who holds a commercial
driver’s license instruction permit issued under section
286-236, shall operate any category of motor vehicles
listed in this section without first being appropriately
examined and duly licensed as a qualified driver of that
category of motor vehicles.
2
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motor vehicle with a revoked license under HRS § 286-132 (2007).
The citation was later amended to driving without a license
(“DWOL”) under HRS § 286-102(b) (Supp. 2012).2
A. District Court Proceedings
At trial, the District Court of the Third Circuit
(“district court”) rejected Castillon’s argument that she was
entitled to a judgment of acquittal because the State failed to
prove that she did not possess a valid driver’s license issued
by Canada or Mexico.3
The State offered testimony in its case-in-chief that
established Castillon did not have a valid Hawaiʻi driver’s
license. Officer Tomota testified that when he stopped
Castillon, he called dispatch to verify whether she had a
2
At the time, HRS § 286-102(b) stated:
A person operating the following category or
combination of categories of motor vehicles shall be
examined as provided in section 286-108 and duly licensed
by the examiner of drivers:
(1) Mopeds;
(2) Motorcycles and motor scooters;
(3) Passenger cars of any gross vehicle weight
rating, buses designed to transport fifteen or
fewer occupants, and trucks and vans having a
gross vehicle weight rating of eighteen
thousand pounds or less; and
(4) All of the motor vehicles in category (3) and
any vehicle that is not a commercial motor
vehicle.
A school bus or van operator shall be properly
licensed to operate the category of vehicles that the
operator operates as a school bus or van and shall comply
with the standards of the department of transportation as
provided by rules adopted pursuant to section 286-181.
3
The Honorable Margaret K. Masunaga presided.
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license. Dispatch responded that Castillon’s license had been
revoked. At trial, the supervising driver’s license examiner
for the County of Hawaiʻi (“Examiner”) also testified that
Castillon’s State of Hawaiʻi driver’s license had been revoked
prior to November 19, 2015. The Examiner testified that the
State’s database precluded her from conducting research
regarding Castillon’s licensure in Canada. She did not address
whether she was precluded from investigating Castillon’s
licensure in Mexico.
Castillon did not introduce evidence that she
possessed a valid driver’s license in Canada or Mexico. Rather,
she argued the State bore the burden to prove that she did not
possess a valid driver’s license in Canada or Mexico and noted
that, while HRS § 286-102(a) requires all persons in the State
of Hawaiʻi to be “appropriately examined and duly licensed as a
qualified driver” before operating a motor vehicle, certain
persons described under HRS § 286-105 (2007)4 are exempted from
4
Under HRS § 286-105(3) and (4), the following persons are
exempted from the licensing requirements under HRS § 286-102:
(3) Any person who is at least eighteen years of age and
who has in the person’s possession a valid driver’s
license to drive the categories of motor vehicles
listed in section 286-102(b), except section 286-
102(b)(4), that is equivalent to a driver’s license
issued in this State but was issued to the person in
another state of the United States, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, a province of the Dominion of
Canada, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
(continued . . .)
4
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this requirement, including those who possess a valid driver’s
license issued by “a province of the Dominion of Canada” and
those with a valid commercial driver’s license issued by
“Mexico, or a province of the Dominion of Canada[.]” HRS § 286-
105(3) and (4). Thus, she claimed, the State bore the burden to
prove that she did not possess a valid driver’s license in
Canada or Mexico.
Based on the evidence presented at trial, the district
court determined that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt
that Castillon violated HRS § 286-102(b) by operating a motor
vehicle without a valid driver’s license. Her sentence to pay
$187.00 in fees and fines was stayed pending this appeal.
Castillon filed an amended motion for reconsideration of
judgment and post-trial motion for judgment of acquittal,
asserting the same arguments. The district court denied the
motions.
(. . . continued)
Islands for that category of motor vehicle which the
person is operating;
(4) Any person who has in the person’s possession a valid
commercial motor vehicle driver’s license issued by
any state of the United States, Mexico, or a province
of the Dominion of Canada that issues licenses in
accordance with the minimum federal standards for the
issuance of commercial motor vehicle driver’s
licenses[.]
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B. ICA Proceedings
Before the ICA, Castillon more specifically argued
that the State failed to meet its burden to prove every element
of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Castillon noted that
she was charged under HRS § 286-102 which provided, in relevant
part, that “[n]o person, except one exempted under section 286-
105, . . . shall operate any category of motor vehicles listed
in this section without first being appropriately examined and
duly licensed as a qualified driver of that category of motor
vehicles.” (Emphasis added.) Included in the exemptions listed
under HRS § 286-105(3) and (4) are any persons that possess a
valid driver’s license issued by Canada or a valid commercial
driver’s license issued by Canada or Mexico.5 Thus, Castillon
argued, the State was required to prove three elements at trial:
(1) on November 19, 2015, Castillon operated a category of motor
vehicle listed under HRS § 286-102; (2) on November 19, 2015,
she was not examined and licensed to drive that category of
motor vehicle; and (3) on November 19, 2015, she was not
exempted by statute from the driver’s license requirements.
Castillon emphasized that no evidence was introduced at trial
that she did not possess a driver’s license issued by Canada or
Mexico. Therefore, she claimed, her conviction was not
5
See supra note 4.
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supported by substantial evidence because the State failed to
prove an essential element of the offense.
In response to Castillon, the State argued that the
defendant bears the initial burden of producing “some evidence”
supporting this defense before the burden shifts to the State to
disprove it. The State alleged the exemptions listed under HRS
§ 286-105 are defenses because the exemptions are not included
in the section of the statute describing the prohibited act--HRS
§ 286-102 (i.e. operating a motor vehicle without a valid
driver’s license). Noting that Castillon failed to introduce
any evidence that she had a driver’s license from Canada or
Mexico at the time she received the citation, the State claimed
that Castillon failed to meet her burden of production and the
burden never shifted to the State.
The ICA agreed with the State.6 Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi
at 247, 398 P.3d at 836. In its published opinion, the ICA
applied the enacting clause test outlined in State v. Nobriga,
10 Haw. App. 353, 357-58, 873 P.2d 110, 112-13 (1994), overruled
on other grounds by State v. Maelega, 80 Hawaiʻi 172, 178-79, 907
P.2d 758, 764-65 (1995). An enacting clause is “the prohibitory
declaration of the statute which contains the general or
6
However, the ICA vacated Castillon’s conviction on other grounds
and remanded for a new trial. Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi at 247-48, 398 P.3d at
836-37.
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preliminary description of the acts prohibited; i.e., the clause
which proscribes the offensive deed.” Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi at
246 n.2, 398 P.3d at 835 n.2 (quoting Nobriga, 10 Haw. App. at
357 n.1, 873 P.2d at 112 n.1). Under the enacting clause test,
where an exemption to an offense is embodied in the enacting
clause of the statute defining the offense, the prosecution
bears the burden of proof. Id. at 245, 398 P.3d at 834. Where
the exemption is described in a separate provision from the
enacting clause, the initial burden of production is on the
defense:
The general and well-settled common law rule is that where
an exception is embodied in the language of the enacting
clause of a criminal statute, and therefore appears to be
an integral part of the verbal description of the offense,
the burden is on the prosecution to negative that
exception, prima facie, as part of its main case.
. . . [W]hen the exception appears somewhere other
than in the enacting clause, and is thus a distinct
substantive exception or proviso, the burden is on the
defendant to bring forward evidence of exceptive facts that
constitute a defense. The prosecutor is not required in
such instances to negative, by proof in advance, exceptions
not found in the enacting clause.
Id. at 245-46, 398 P.3d at 834-35 (emphasis and citations
omitted) (quoting Nobriga, 10 Haw. App. at 357-58, 873 P.2d at
112-13). Applying the enacting clause test, the ICA explained
that HRS § 286-102(a) is the enacting clause of the DWOL offense
because it describes the prohibited act of driving without a
license. See id. at 246-47, 398 P.3d at 835-36. The ICA
determined that the HRS § 286-105 exemptions are described in a
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separate provision and, therefore, not embodied within the
enacting clause of the DWOL offense. Id. at 247, 398 P.3d at
836.
To support its interpretation, the ICA discussed State
v. Lee, 90 Hawaiʻi 130, 976 P.2d 444 (1999). Id. at 246-47, 398
P.3d at 835-36. The Lee court applied the enacting clause test
to a statute prohibiting operating a motor vehicle without no-
fault insurance, HRS § 431:10C-104(a) (1993 & Supp. 1996). Id.
at 246, 398 P.3d at 835. HRS § 431:10C-104(a) is the enacting
clause of the offense because it describes the prohibited act of
operating a motor vehicle without no-fault insurance. The
enacting clause refers to a separate statute, HRS § 431:10C-105
(1993), which lists exceptions to the offense. HRS § 431:10C-
104(a). The enacting clause states, “Except as provided in
section 431:10C-105 [(the section pertaining to self-
insurance)], no person shall operate or use a motor vehicle upon
any public street, road, or highway of [this] State at any time
unless such motor vehicle is insured at all times under a no-
fault policy.”7 Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi at 246, 398 P.3d at 835
(first brackets in original) (quoting Lee, 90 Hawaiʻi at 132 n.1,
7
The exceptions described in HRS § 431:10C-105 provide that the
no-fault motor vehicle insurance required under the enacting clause, HRS §
431:10C-104(a), is inapplicable if either the driver of the motor vehicle or
the vehicle itself are self-insured. Lee, 90 Hawaiʻi at 136, 976 P.2d at 450.
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976 P.2d at 446 n.1). The Lee court held that the HRS §
431:10C-105 exceptions to the offense of driving without no-
fault insurance are only referenced, but not described, in the
enacting clause. Id. As such, the HRS § 431:10C-105 exceptions
constitute defenses to the offense of driving without no-fault
insurance, for which the defendant bears the initial burden of
production; the exceptions are not elements of the offense, for
which the State bears the burden of proof. Id.
The ICA found the enacting clause for driving without
a license--HRS § 286-102(a)--to be similar to the enacting
clause at issue in Lee. Id. HRS § 286-102(a) references a
separate section of the statute containing exemptions to the
offense, HRS § 286-105, but does not define the exemptions. Id.
HRS § 286-102(a) states in pertinent part: “No person, except
one exempted under section 286-105, . . . shall operate any
category of motor vehicles listed in this section without first
being appropriately examined and duly licensed as a qualified
driver of that category of motor vehicles.” (Emphasis added.)
Similar to the exceptions in Lee, the ICA concluded the HRS §
286-105 exemptions are not embodied within the enacting clause
of the offense--HRS § 286-102(a); thus, the exemptions are not
“an integral part of the . . . description of the offense[.]”
Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi at 245-46, 398 P.3d at 834-35 (quoting
Nobriga, 10 Haw. App. at 357, 873 P.2d at 113). As provisions
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defined separately from the enacting clause, the ICA held the
HRS § 286-105 exemptions to be defenses to the DWOL offense.
Id. at 247, 398 P.3d at 836. As defenses, the ICA concluded,
Castillon bore the burden to produce evidence that she possessed
a valid driver’s license in Canada or a valid commercial
driver’s license in Canada or Mexico before the burden shifted
to the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she did not
have a driver’s license that qualified as an exemption. Id.
Because Castillon failed to introduce any evidence that she
possessed a driver’s license in Canada or Mexico, the ICA held,
the burden never shifted to the State. Id.
The ICA further noted that notwithstanding the
enacting clause test, exemptions are always a defense, and not
an essential element of the offense, “when the facts or evidence
concerning the [exemption] are ‘peculiarly within the knowledge
of the defendant’ or ‘within the defendant’s private
control[.]’” Id. at 246, 398 P.3d at 835 (quoting Nobriga, 10
Haw. App. at 358, 873 P.2d at 113). Thus, in accordance with
Lee, “the statutory [exemptions] referred to in HRS § 286-102(a)
are not elements of the DWOL offense, but constitute defenses to
the offense.” Id. at 247, 398 P.3d at 836. The ICA concluded
that Castillon bore the burden of introducing evidence that she
possessed a driver’s license issued by Canada or Mexico, in
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part, because she inherently has knowledge or control of such
evidence. Id. at 246, 398 P.3d at 835.
III. Standard of Review
A. Statutory Interpretation
“Statutory interpretation is a question of law
reviewable de novo.” Panado v. Bd. of Trs., Emps.’ Ret. Sys.,
134 Hawaiʻi 1, 10, 332 P.3d 144, 153 (2014) (quoting First Ins.
Co. of Hawaii v. A & B Props., 126 Hawaiʻi 406, 414, 271 P.3d
1165, 1173 (2012)). In reviewing questions of statutory
interpretation, we are guided by the following principles:
First, the fundamental starting point for statutory-
interpretation is the language of the statute itself.
Second, where the statutory language is plain and
unambiguous, our sole duty is to give effect to its plain
and obvious meaning. Third, implicit in the task of
statutory construction is our foremost obligation to
ascertain and give effect to the intention of the
legislature, which is to be obtained primarily from the
language contained in the statute itself. Fourth, when
there is doubt, doubleness of meaning, or indistinctiveness
or uncertainty of an expression used in a statute, an
ambiguity exists.
Id. at 10-11, 332 P.3d at 153-54 (quoting First Ins. Co. of
Hawaii, 126 Hawaiʻi at 414, 271 P.3d at 1173).
IV. Discussion
We concur with the ICA’s analysis in all respects but
one. The ICA quoted Nobriga for the proposition that an
exemption always constitutes a defense “when the facts or
evidence concerning the [exemption] are ‘peculiarly within the
knowledge of the defendant’ or ‘within the defendant’s private
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control[.]’” Castillon, 140 Hawaiʻi at 246, 398 P.3d at 835
(quoting Nobriga, 10 Haw. App. at 358, 873 P.2d at 113). The
statement in Nobriga derives from the thirteenth edition of
Wharton’s Criminal Evidence, a supplement published over forty
years ago that has since been updated to clarify the principle.
Compare 1 Wharton’s Criminal Evidence § 20, at 33-35 (C. Torcia
13th ed. 1972) (stating that a statutory exception found in the
enacting clause is per se a defense when the facts supporting
the defense are within the defendant’s knowledge or private
control), with 1 Wharton’s Criminal Evidence § 2:9, at 59 (C.
Torcia 15th ed. 1997) (explaining that if a defendant asserts an
affirmative defense, the burden of producing evidence to support
the defense first rests on the defendant because it is “fair and
makes sense, primarily because the facts in support of such a
defense would be peculiarly within the knowledge of the
accused”). This court has occasionally applied the rule that an
exemption is a defense if the facts or evidence of the defense
are peculiarly within the knowledge of the defendant or in the
defendant’s private control.8 Nonetheless, it is unclear why the
practice of citing the rule has persisted, as the statute
8
See, e.g., State v. Jenkins, 93 Hawaiʻi 87, 107, 997 P.2d 13, 33
(2000) (“Inasmuch as the question whether Jenkins did or did not possess a
hunting license poses a fact ‘peculiarly within [Jenkins’s] knowledge,’ the
general rule, which ordinarily would require the prosecution to establish
that fact as part of its case-in-chief, would be inoperative.”).
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describing what constitutes a defense does not impose such a
requirement. A defense is defined as “a fact or set of facts
which negatives penal liability[,]” irrespective of whether the
facts are within the defendant’s knowledge or private control.
HRS § 701-115(a) (2014). As stated in Nobriga and Lee, unless
“some evidence”9 supporting the defense has been adduced, the
State has no burden to disprove the defense. Here, if Castillon
had introduced “some evidence” that she possessed a valid
driver’s license in Canada or a valid commercial driver’s
license in Canada or Mexico, the burden would shift to the State
to introduce evidence disproving her defense.
Therefore, we concur with the ICA’s conclusion that
the exemptions referenced in HRS § 286-102(a) and described in
HRS § 286-105 are defenses to the offense of DWOL, for which
Castillon bore the initial burden of production. We make this
determination irrespective of whether Castillon had knowledge or
private control over facts establishing that she had a valid
driver’s license in Canada or Mexico. Because she did not
produce “some evidence” that she possessed a valid driver’s
license that would qualify her for exemption, as set forth in
9
“Some evidence” is “such evidence [that] would support the
consideration of that issue by the jury, no matter how weak, inconclusive, or
unsatisfactory the evidence may be.” Maelega, 80 Hawaiʻi at 178–79, 907 P.2d
at 764–65 (emphasis omitted) (quoting State v. Pinero, 75 Haw. 282, 304, 859
P.2d 1369, 1379 (1993)); see also Lee, 90 Hawaiʻi at 137 n.6, 976 P.2d at 451
n.6.
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HRS § 286-105, the burden did not shift to the State. We affirm
the ICA’s judgment but for the reasons stated in this opinion
and remand to the district court for further proceedings.
John M. Tonaki, /s/ Mark E. Recktenwald
Audrey L. Stanley
for Petitioner /s/ Paula A. Nakayama
Mitchell D. Roth, /s/ Sabrina S. McKenna
David Blancett-Maddock
for Respondents /s/ Richard W. Pollack
/s/ Michael D. Wilson
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