State V. Ortiz

On October 24, 1991, following a bench trial, Defendant-Appellant Odin Ortiz (Appellant) was found guilty of physically abusing his wife, Emily Paia-Ortiz (Emily), in violation of Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 709-906 (Supp. 1991) (Abuse of family and household members). Appellant received a thirty-day sentence of imprisonment for this misdemeanor conviction. Appellant filed a motion for stay of sentence, or in the alternative, for release pending appeal, which was denied by order of the circuit court on October 30, 1991. Appellant next filed a notice of appeal together with a motion for release on bail pending appeal. On November 20, 1991, we deferred a decision on the motion until the parties fully briefed the issue of whether Appellant was entitled to post-conviction bail as a matter of right under HRS § 804-4 (Supp. 1992). Appellant was granted a stay of sentence until we could fully consider his arguments.