State v. Chong Hung Han

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA, J.

We hold that under Tachibana v. State, 79 Hawai'i 226, 900 P.2d 1293 (1995) and State v. Lewis, 94 Hawai'i 292, 12 P.3d 1233 (2000), a colloquy between the judge and a defendant involves a verbal exchange in which the judge ascertains the defendant’s understanding of the defendant’s rights. In this ease, the advisement by the Family Court of the First Circuit (the court) did not adequately ascertain whether Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant Chong Hung Han (Petitioner) understood his Constitutional right to testify or not to testify. Further, Petitioner’s need for…