HRS 0286-0044 ANNOTATIONS

Trial court did not err in finding that trucks were contraband where there was substantial evidence to support court's finding that the VINs of the two trucks had been "changed, altered, erased, or mutilated, for the purpose of changing the identity of the motor vehicle", and defendant's possession of not one, but two trucks with altered VINs, when considered with defendant's bargain-basement purchases of two other trucks from which elements of identity were taken for the two other trucks, gave substantial support for the inference that defendant knew of the alterations and their purpose. 101 H. 422 (App.), 70 P.3d 648.

Where trial court failed to fulfill its statutory mandate under subsection (a) that truck "be returned to the owner entitled to possession" by failing to determine whether truck was contraband under this section, judgment vacated. 101 H. 422 (App.), 70 P.3d 648.