STAND. COM. REP. NO. 248

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1335

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1335 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to define "custody", as used in the offense of sexual assault in the third degree, to mean a person who is stopped by or under the control of a law enforcement officer for official purposes, including but not limited to a law enforcement officer making a traffic stop and requesting any identification, license, or registration.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, IMUAlliance, Remington College Criminal Justice Student Coalition, and three individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that there was a recent incident in which a Honolulu police officer was indicted on a third-degree sexual assault charge for knowingly subjecting a teenage girl in custody, as a result of a traffic stop, to sexual contact.  However, the indictment against the officer was dismissed with prejudice due to the court's interpretation of "custody" in section 707-732, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  This measure seeks to provide the courts with clarification on how "custody" is to be interpreted under section 707-732, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  Implementation of this measure will further public safety by prohibiting law enforcement officers from knowingly subjecting to sexual contact a person in custody, including during traffic stops.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting a purpose section to provide the intent and purpose of the measure;

     (2)  Amending the definition of "custody" to "person in custody" and clarifying the definition; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1335, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1335, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair