Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 679 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to propose an amendment to the state constitution to provide that evidence that a testifying defendant has been convicted of a crime of dishonesty shall be admissible to assist the judge or jury in evaluating the credibility of the defendant to the same extent as any other testifying witness.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Attorney General, the City and County of Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney, the Honolulu Police Department, the County of Hawaii Police Department, and the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Judiciary, the Office of the Public Defender, and the Community Alliance on Prisons.

Your Committee finds that in Hawaii, witnesses other than the defendant may be impeached by the use of prior convictions. However, in State v. Santiago, 53 Haw. 254 (1971), the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a defendant may not be impeached by the use of prior convictions, even if those prior convictions involve crimes relating to the making of false statements or to dishonesty. This is in direct contrast to the federal rules, which permits the use of any conviction of dishonesty or false statement for impeachment of a defendant. This measure will put Hawaii in line with the federal law and will not take away any rights afforded defendants under rules 403 and 609 of the Hawaii Rules of Evidence.

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. 679, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 679, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.