State v. Glenn
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In this criminal case, the Supreme Court held prospectively that once the court receives notice pursuant to Haw. Rev. Stat. 407.5(1) that a defendant's penal responsibility is an issue in the case, the circuit court must advise a defendant of the penal-responsibility defense and obtain a knowing waiver of the defense.
During the criminal proceedings in this case, two of the three examiners concluded that Defendant lacked penal responsibility. Defendant insisted that he was not mentally ill and that he did not want to assert a defense based on lack of penal responsibility. The circuit court eventually found Defendant was fit to stand trial, and Defendant was found guilty. On appeal, Defendant argued that the circuit court should have either sua sponte instructed the jury about the defense of criminal responsibility or conduct a colloquy to ensure that he knowingly and voluntarily decided not to raise the defense. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that (1) going forward, courts have a duty to obtain a knowing and voluntary waiver of a penal-responsibility defense; and (2) the trial court followed the rules in place at the time of Defendant's conviction and had no duty to sua sponte instruct the jury on lack of penal responsibility.
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