Getting Out on Bail While Appealing a Hawaii Conviction

So you were just convicted of a crime in Hawaii and sentenced to jail time. That totally sucks! Now you want to appeal your conviction because you think the judge or your lawyer screwed up. But do you really want to sit in jail during the whole appeal process? That could take months! Thankfully, in some cases you can get out of jail on bail while your appeal is pending. This article will break down everything you need to know about bail and appeals in Hawaii.

Can I get bail while appealing a conviction in Hawaii?

The first thing to know is that getting bail while appealing a conviction is not a guaranteed right in Hawaii. The judge has a lot of discretion to grant or deny bail pending appeal. So you’ll have to convince the judge that letting you out on bail is the right call.

In general, people convicted of minor crimes and short sentences are more likely to get bail than serious felonies with long sentences. Judges don’t want to let out dangerous criminals who might just run away! Duh! But for small stuff like misdemeanors, judges will often grant bail during the appeal because it doesn’t make sense for you to serve your whole sentence when you might win the appeal.

The judge will look at stuff like:

• What crime were you convicted of?
• How long is your sentence?
• Is your appeal likely to succeed?
• Are you a danger to the community?
• Are you a flight risk?

So if you weren’t convicted of something crazy serious, don’t have a long sentence, have a decent appeal case, and aren’t super dangerous or likely to run away, the judge will probably say yes to bail pending appeal.

What’s the process for getting bail during an appeal in Hawaii?

The first step is to ask the judge who sentenced you for bail pending appeal. This request happens at your sentencing hearing. The judge will consider all the factors mentioned above and make a decision.

If the judge says no to bail, they have to explain in writing why they denied you. Then you can appeal the bail decision to a higher court. But this is really hard to win unless the judge clearly screwed up. Higher courts don’t like to overrule lower court decisions unless they are totally crazy.

If you do get approved for bail, you’ll have to post a bail bond, just like when you were waiting for trial. This means paying the court a certain amount of money, usually 10% of the total bail amount. When your appeal is over, you get this money back as long as you followed all the rules.

The judge might also make you follow certain conditions, like wearing an ankle monitor, having a curfew, or staying in the state. If you violate any of the conditions, you can get thrown back in jail.

How long does the appeal process take in Hawaii?

The appeal process takes a really long time. We’re talking between 6 months to over a year, depending on the specifics of your case. Hawaii law says you have 30 days after your conviction to file a Notice of Appeal. This is just a short document saying you want to appeal.

After you file the notice, your lawyer has to order transcripts of all the court hearings in your case. This can take months! Then they write up the legal arguments explaining why your conviction should be overturned. The state gets to write arguments defending the conviction.

All of this goes to the appeals court, which will schedule a hearing date. Don’t expect this to happen quickly though. The courts have huge backlogs of cases to get through. When your hearing finally happens, a panel of judges will listen to both sides argue and then make a decision.

So if you do get bail pending appeal, be prepared to wait a looong time before your appeal gets resolved. We’re talking like a year or more. The wheels of justice move sloooow. Hopefully you have some good podcasts lined up!

What happens after the appeals court rules on my case?

There’s a few possible outcomes after the appeals court makes their decision:

• Affirm the conviction – The judges decide your appeal doesn’t have merit and the conviction stands. That sucks, time to report to jail!
• Reverse the conviction – The judges agree your trial was unfair and overturn the conviction. The charges might even get dropped completely! Congrats, you’re free!
• Remand for a new trial – The judges think errors were made but there’s still enough evidence to retry the case. So you have to go through the whole trial process again. And the bail issue comes up once more.

Those are the basics of bail and appeals in Hawaii. It’s complicated stuff so make sure to talk to your lawyer. Don’t try to handle the appeal yourself unless you have a law degree! This article should give you a good overview of the process. But let your lawyer worry about the nitty gritty details. Hopefully this was helpful and you get to post bail while you wait out that long appeal process. Good luck and don’t do anything illegal while you’re out on bail!