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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I ---o0o---

MANUEL FRAGIAO, Respondent/Petitioner-Appellant vs. STATE OF HAWAI#I, Petitioner/Respondent-Appellee

NO.

22636

CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (S.P.P. NO. 98-002)

January 9, 2001

MOON, C.J., LEVINSON, NAKAYAMA, RAMIL, AND ACOBA, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY ACOBA, J. We granted the application for writ of certiorari filed by Petitioner/Respondent-Appellee State of Hawai#i to review the reversal by the Intermediate Court of Appeals (the ICA) of the May 25, 1999 order of the third circuit court (the court) denying the Hawai#i Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rule 40 petition for post-conviction relief filed by Respondent/Petitioner-Appellant Manuel Fragiao. Fragiao had appealed solely from that part of

the court's order denying his claim that his trial counsel's

purported conflict of interest rendered the representation afforded him ineffective. We vacate the ICA's reversal and

affirm the said order and the June 14, 1999 order denying reconsideration1 based on our holding herein that an attorney "employed and paid by the county" for the benefit of a police officer, such as Fragiao, to defend the officer in a criminal case pursuant to Hawai#i Revised Statutes (HRS)

Download Fragiao v. State. ICA Opinion, filed 08/03/2000, 95 Haw. 53.pdf

Hawaii Law