{"id":982,"date":"2026-06-05T10:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:36:34","slug":"hawaii-supreme-court-hears-arguments-on-dui-field-sobriety-test-refusals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether a driver\u2019s refusal to take a voluntary roadside sobriety test can be used as evidence of guilt in civil, license revocation cases, and potentially the criminal case.<\/p>\n

Read more FBI warns AI is making scams harder to spot \u2014 and Hawaii is paying the price<\/a><\/p>\n

The ACLU of Hawaii joined defense attorney Kevin O\u2019Grady in seeking clarification on whether refusing to take the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) should count against a driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government must produce evidence from its own work not through forced physical actions. A person cannot be punished for exercising a right, including the right to not provide evidence to the police,\u201d said O\u2019Grady.<\/p>\n

Emily Hills of ACLU of Hawaii said there are multiple reasons someone might decline the test. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the problem with allowing across the board, inference consciousness of guilt. There\u2019s a variety of innocent reasons why someone might refuse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hills pointed out multiple reasons in her brief, including physical disabilities and potential language barriers.<\/p>\n

Read more Hawaii Symphony Orchestra announces reimagined season finale<\/a><\/p>\n

Justices raise questions about fairness<\/h1>\n

Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna brought up age: \u201cIf someone over the age of 65 refuses, says, \u2018No, I don\u2019t want to take it,\u2019 that can be used as consciousness of guilt?\u201d<\/p>\n

Associate Justice Todd Eddins questioned the fairness of using a refusal against a defendant when drivers are not fully informed. <\/p>\n

\u201cTold it\u2019s voluntary. They\u2019re told that there\u2019s civil consequences if they refuse, but they\u2019re not told that if you refuse this could be used against you in court,\u201d Eddins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA confession without any knowledge,\u201d Eddins said.<\/p>\n

The state argued that a driver\u2019s refusal to take the test should still be considered as part of the evidence, along with other factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no constitutional right to refuse the SFST. That denial is not protected in any way. That can be used as evidence as any other piece of evidence can be considered,\u201d said Sianha Gualano, deputy solicitor general of the state attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Read more Waikiki Aquarium to host events throughout World Ocean Month<\/a><\/p>\n

A ruling from the Hawaii Supreme Court will likely take several months.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hawai\u02bbi Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether refusing a voluntary roadside sobriety test can be used as evidence of guilt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals - 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=982\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hawai\u02bbi Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether refusing a voluntary roadside sobriety test can be used as evidence of guilt.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T10:36:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T10:36:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T10:36:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=982#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"The Hawai\u02bbi Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether refusing a voluntary roadside sobriety test can be used as evidence of guilt.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T10:36:34+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals","datePublished":"2026-06-05T10:36:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982"},"wordCount":389,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982","name":"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-05T10:36:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5e6e8954af7a32fddbc2d2cbaf336839.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=982#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments on DUI field sobriety test refusals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}