ICA upholds circuit court's refusal to let defendant present sovereignty defense

The ICA last August affirmed by summary disposition the conviction of a defendant for Unauthorized Entry in a Dwelling and five counts of Violation of an Order for Protection. (State v. Kaluau) Among the issues the defendant raised on appeal was that the circuit court had "preclud[ed] him from presenting his 'Hawaiian Kingdom' evidence".

According to the ICA

The circuit court did not err in precluding Kaluau from introducing "Hawaiian Kingdom" evidence. The sovereignty of the State and its lawful jurisdiction over the inhabitants of the State is a matter of law that is well-established. State v. Fergerstrom, 106 Hawai'i 43, 55, 101 P.3d 652, 664 (App. 2004); see also State v. Lorenzo, 77 Hawai'i 219, 883 P.2d 641 (App. 1994).

Recall that in May the ICA had required a court-appointed attorney to submit supplemental briefing of a sovereignty defense after the attorney had stated in the opening brief

that he is providing ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal as he "is incapable of properly asserting the 'Hawaiian Sovereignty' Defenses of the Defendant, since he does not agree with the Defendant's political position[.]"

The court noted that counsel did not maintain that Defendant's sovereignty claim was frivolous or "so repugnant to the lawyer as to be likely to impair the client-lawyer relationship or the lawyer's ability to represent the client" (citing the Hawai'i Rules of Professional Conduct).