 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Topasna11/27/2000
n, Topasna broaches (but does not formally argue) several other issues. Of note are the following.
Topasna resurrects the arguments from his unsuccessful motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. He argued there and argues here again that he lacked the capacity to knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily enter his guilty pleas because he was tired and his mind was not clear during the change-of-plea colloquy. At the hearing on the motion, he testified that for the two weeks prior to the colloquy, he was deprived of sleep and a clear head by his noisy fellow inmates, their incessant smoking and the fumes from a freshly-painted holding unit.
On cross-examination, however, Topasna admitted that he had enjoyed the clear atmosphere of the courthouse cellblock the whole day of the afternoon colloquy. He also acknowledged that he did not complain about his afflictions during the colloquy. In fact, at the commencement of the colloquy he had assured the judge that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs nor under treatment for any mental illness or emotional disability, and that his mind was clear. And our review of the transcript reveals a most alert and responsive -- indeed, assertive -- interlocutor.
In any case, the court found, on Topasna's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, that Topasna "was thinking clearly at the time." The court saw "no credible evidence that [Topasna] was confused or that his ability to understand . . . was impaired to any degree when the pleas were entered."
Given the record before us, we see no reason to disturb the court's findings in this respect. State v. Jim, 58 Haw. 574, 579, 574 P.2d 521, 524 (1978) ("The court [on a motion to withdraw guilty plea] had before it only the representations of the defendant, and it was within its province to inquire into the truth and validity of the defendant's claims and representations. The trial court was entitled to consider the defendant's asserted reasons and the factual basis therefor against a background consisting of the earlier proceedings." (Citations omitted.)); cf. Merino, 81 Hawaii at 225-26, 915 P.2d at 699-700 (pro se defendant's "capacity to exercise sound judgment" was not impaired during change-of-plea colloquy, even though he had a serious heart condition, might have been experiencing insulin shock and had available to him at the time the medications Lasix, K-lor, Endurol, Halcion and Xanax, all of which carried potential side effects).
To the extent the findings were the court's judgment as to the credibility of Topasna's testimony about his state of mind, we cannot disturb them. State v. Balberdi, 90 Hawaii 16, 21, 975 P.2d 773, 778 (App. 1999) ("It is for the trial judge as fact-finder to assess the credibility of witnesses and to resolve all questions of fact; the judge may accept or reject any witness's testimony in whole or in part. Further, an appellate court will not pass upon the trial judge's decisions with respect to the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence, because this is the province of the trial judge." (Brackets, citations and internal quotation marks omitted)).
Topasna also complains that he had not seen the indictment until the change-of-plea proceeding and was therefore not prepared because he was not aware of the "whole charge." Be that as it may, the whole point of our previous discussion is that his colloquy with the court made him adequately aware of the "whole charge" such that his guilty pleas were knowing and intelligent.
Topasna asserts that his questions about the dates of the offenses during the colloquy "intimated that he was not guilty of the offenses[.]" He also calls our attention to his prote
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Hawaii Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|