***FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER*** Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX 04-JUN-2020 07:53 AM IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI ---o0o--- STATE OF HAWAIʻI, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ALEXANDER MIRANDA, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant. SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX; CR. NO. 16-1-0315) JUNE 4, 2020 RECKTENWALD, C.J., NAKAYAMA, McKENNA, POLLACK, AND WILSON, JJ. OPINION OF THE COURT BY POLLACK, J. A defendant in a criminal prosecution has a constitutionally protected right to cross-examine a witness for potential bias or motive. In this case, the defendant argues that this right was violated when the circuit court prevented defense counsel from cross-examining the complainant about ***FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER*** disciplinary action the complainant might have faced as a United States Marine for instigating a fight in violation of its code of conduct provisions. We conclude that because the defense was precluded from questioning the complainant about this potential source of bias, the jury did not have sufficient information from which to make an informed appraisal of the complainant’s motives or bias. We also provide guidance concerning the admissibility of other evidence as to the contents of a destroyed video recording under Hawaii Rules of Evidence Rules 1004 and 403. I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On March 27, 2015, Alexander Miranda was involved in an altercation in which complainant David Metts’ jaw and nose were broken. Miranda was subsequently charged by felony information, on March 2, 2016, in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (circuit court) with committing the offense of assault in the Second Degree, in violation of Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 707-711(1)(a) or (b).1 Miranda pleaded not guilty to the charge. 1 HRS § 707-711(1) (2014) provides in relevant part as follows: (1) A person commits the offense of assault in the second degree if: (a) The person intentionally or knowingly causes substantial bodily injury to another; (continued . . .) 2 ***FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER*** A. Pre-Trial Proceedings Prior to trial, Miranda filed a motion to dismiss the charge, arguing that the State’s delay in bringing the charge violated his due process right to a fair trial. In a declaration submitted with the motion, defense counsel averred the following facts. The altercation occurred on the sidewalk in front of an ABC store in Waikīkī around midnight on March 27, 2015. Shortly after, in the early morning of March 28, Miranda and his friend Steven Rodriguez were arrested for their involvement in the incident. After their arrest, Officer Arthur Gazelle of the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) reviewed security camera footage from the ABC store, which recorded the altercation. Officer Gazelle took a photograph of the video screen when it showed Rodriguez and Metts, but not Miranda. HPD Detective (Det.) Michael Burger was thereafter assigned to investigate the incident. According to Det. Burger’s closing report, he contacted Newell Hirata, an ABC employee, sometime during his investigation and Hirata informed him that the surveillance video was ...
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