State v. Tavares

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

RICHARDSON, C.J.

The issue presented on this appeal is whether a conviction on the second count of a two-count indictment constitutes a separate conviction under Hawaii’s repeat offender statute, HRS § 706-606.5 (Supp. 1980). Following a non-jury trial, the defendant was convicted on one count of burglary in the first degree. Because the defendant had been convicted on two counts of burglary on a prior date, the trial court treated the defendant’s immediate conviction as his third and sentenced him to a mandatory minimum term of ten years pursuant to section…