Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 997 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of the bill is to allow for Class C felony prosecution via information.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the Counties of Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii, Police Department for the Counties of Honolulu and Hawaii, Sex Abuse Treatment Center, Hawaii Bankers Association, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Queen's Medical Center, the Hawaii Hotel Association, CEATECH USA, Hunt's Laundromatics, Royal Guard Security, Inc., Waikiki Beach Activities, Ltd., McCabe, Hamilton & Renny Co., Ltd., Allied Machinery Corp., Waikiki Improvement Assoc. and concerned individuals. Testimony in opposition to the measure was received from the Office of the Public Defender, ACLU Hawaii, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, ILWU Local 142 and a concerned individual.

Your Committee finds that allowing felony charges to be initiated by information negatively affects the protections afforded by the grand jury and the preliminary hearing processes. Allowing prosecution by information will cause a major shift in protections to the disadvantage of defendants. Consequently, your Committee believes that a new balance must be struck and that extensive study of the issues presented is needed.

Your Committee has accordingly amended the bill by:

The Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney was present during decision-making and expressed concurrence with the limitation to Class C felonies and providing for depositions in the statutes.

Other technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 997, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 997, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.