{"id":847,"date":"2026-06-02T06:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=847"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:35:42","slug":"hawaii-supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-using-sobriety-test-refusals-as-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=847","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Supreme Court to hear case on using sobriety test refusals as evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii\u2019s Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on whether drivers who refuse voluntary roadside sobriety tests can have that refusal used as evidence of guilt.<\/p>\n

Read more Are you prepared? Active hurricane season prompts emergency kit reminders<\/a><\/p>\n

The case challenges a lower court ruling that allows a driver\u2019s decision to decline the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) to be treated as evidence of \u201cconsciousness of guilt\u201d in driver\u2019s license revocation proceedings and possibly the criminal DUI cases.<\/p>\n

The SFST consists of multiple parts including the one-leg stand, the walk and turn, and the eye test. The tests are voluntary, but declining to participate does have consequences.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

In body camera videos HNN Investigates obtained, drivers who declined were ordered out of the car immediately and arrested. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the court is allowed and hearings officers are allowed to take a person\u2019s \u2018no\u2019 to perform a voluntary test and use it as a presumption that the person is guilty,\u201d said attorney Kevin O\u2019Grady, who is representing the appellant.<\/p>\n

Legal challenge raises constitutional questions<\/h1>\n

The ACLU of Hawaii joined O\u2019Grady\u2019s challenge. In the court record, agency attorney Emily Hills wrote, \u201cThis case raises a significant legal question that could impact the constitutional rights of drivers across Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hills said drivers have a constitutional right to refuse participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a right to say, \u2018No, I don\u2019t want to help you prosecute me,\u2019\u201d Hills said. \u201c\u2018No, I\u2019m not going to participate in my own prosecution,\u2019 whether that\u2019s through remaining silent or through saying, \u2018No, I don\u2019t want to do these tests.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hills, who will doing oral arguments before the state high court, said a lower court\u2019s ruling was wrong because it allowed an inference of \u201cconsciousness of guilt\u201d from the refusal alone.<\/p>\n

Defense attorney and former deputy city prosecutor Victor Bakke said the current system does create an impossible situation for drivers.<\/p>\n

Read more Repairs underway of massive Maui sinkhole after March storms<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re painting people into a no-win situation,\u201d Bakke said. \u201cIf the person takes the test and they fail, they\u2019re going to get prosecuted and it\u2019ll be used against them. But if they don\u2019t take the test, then it\u2019s going to be used against them to say, well, you\u2019re guilty anyways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defense attorney and former Honolulu police officer Jonathan Burge said the \u201cconsciousness of guilt\u201d issue contradicts legal advice attorneys give.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re my client and I told you don\u2019t do it and you\u2019re taking my advice and not doing it, suddenly you got a conscience of guilt when you\u2019re following my advice,\u201d Burge said. \u201cSo that doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not taking the test <\/h1>\n

O\u2019Grady said there are multiple reasons why a driver might decline the tests beyond guilt.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re tired. They\u2019re scared. Maybe English isn\u2019t their first language. Maybe they\u2019re not good at following instructions, or they have bad knees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Grady and the other attorneys said the SFST has value and drunk drivers need to be prosecuted, but refusing to participate should not count as evidence.<\/p>\n

Hills pointed out that many drivers do consent.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of drivers say, sure, I\u2019ll do these tests, right, that is an important investigative tool for police,\u201d Hills said. \u201cThe flip side is though, if a driver says, no, I don\u2019t want to do them, what are we allowed to read into it and can we hold that against them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more First Alert Forecast: More trade wind showers and it is the official start to hurricane season<\/a><\/p>\n

Oral arguments will happen on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ACLU of Hawaii attorney Emily Hills said a lower court\u2019s ruling was wrong because it allowed an inference of \u201cconsciousness of guilt\u201d from the refusal alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHawaii Supreme Court to hear case on using sobriety test refusals as evidence - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=847\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaii Supreme Court to hear case on using sobriety test refusals as evidence - 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