2010 Hawaii Code
DIVISION 5. CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
TITLE 37. HAWAII PENAL CODE
708. Offenses Against Property Rights
§708-836.5 Unauthorized entry into motor vehicle in the first degree.

§708-836.5 Unauthorized entry into motor vehicle in the first degree. (1) A person commits the offense of unauthorized entry into motor vehicle in the first degree if the person intentionally or knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a motor vehicle, without being invited, licensed, or otherwise authorized to enter or remain within the vehicle, with the intent to commit a crime against a person or against property rights.

(2) Unauthorized entry into motor vehicle in the first degree is a class C felony. [L 1996, c 87, §2; am L 2006, c 230, §40]

Cross References

Interference with the operator of a public transit vehicle, see §711-1112.

COMMENTARY ON §708-836.5

Act 87, Session Laws 1996, added this section to the penal code and made the offense of unauthorized entry into motor vehicle a class C felony due to the increased number of car thefts in the State. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 2598.

Act 230, Session Laws 2006, amended this section to create the offense of unauthorized entry into motor vehicle in the first degree.

Case Notes

Appellant asserted that appellant's conviction for unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle was improper because applicable federal statutes governed, thereby precluding this statute from being assimilated into federal law; affirmed. 392 F.3d 1050.

Specifying the particular crime intended to be committed is not an essential element which must be alleged in order to charge the crime of unauthorized entry into motor vehicle. 97 H. 492, 40 P.3d 894.

For the purposes of this section, "entry" is defined as the least intrusion into a motor vehicle with the whole physical body, with any part of the body, or with any instrument appurtenant to the body introduced for the purpose of committing a crime against a person or against property rights. 100 H. 383, 60 P.3d 333.