Gomes v. Tyau

The defendant-petitioner-appellee Damien Chong has applied for a writ of certiorari from the decision of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) in State v. Chong, 86 Haw. 290, 949 P.2d 130 (Haw. Ct. App. 1997) [hereinafter, the "ICAs decision"], which reversed the circuit courts order granting Chongs motion to dismiss the indictment against him. Put simply, the issue presented is whether the prosecutions use of pre-scripted questions and answers in connection with its grand jury witnesses is so innately prejudicial that the practice -- in and of itself -- violates a defendants right to due process of law by invading the province of the grand jury or tending to induce action other than that which the grand jurors, in their uninfluenced judgment, deem warranted on the evidence fairly presented before them.