Act 271, Session Laws 1993, added this section to give discretion to the court to sentence an individual, in a second degree murder case evidencing exceptional depravity, to life imprisonment without possibility of parole under §706-656. The legislature felt that this discretion should be limited to those situations in which the circumstances demonstrate that the individual who committed the crime is exceptionally depraved, and therefore should receive the enhanced sentence. House Standing Committee Report No. 1171, Senate Standing Committee Report No. 689.

Act 15, Session Laws 1996, amended this section to provide that a court may sentence a person convicted of murder in the second degree to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, if the person had a prior conviction for murder. The Act addressed the problem encountered by the prosecution in Briones v. State, 74 Haw. 442 (1993), in attempting to obtain a conviction of the defendant for murder in the first degree for killing two persons. The supreme court held in Briones v. State that the defendant must have had the prior intent or state of mind to kill two persons before the defendant killed the first person, for a conviction for murder in the first degree, which has a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. The legislature's intent was to permit a court to sentence a defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole when the defendant commits two or more murders. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 2592, House Standing Committee Report No. 221-96.

The findings necessary to impose an enhanced sentence under this section must be made by the trier of fact; if the prosecution elects to seek an enhanced sentence pursuant to this section, it must be alleged in the complaint. 92 H. 19, 986 P.2d 306.