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NO. 23492 IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I STATE OF HAWAI#I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EMYBEL S. VALMOJA, Defendant-Appellant APPEAL FROM THE FAMILY COURT OF THE FIFTH CIRCUIT (FC-Cr. No. 99-0164) SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER Burns, C.J., Watanabe, and Lim, JJ.)

(By:

In this appeal, Defendant-Appellant Emybel S. Valmoja (Valmoja) contends that the Family Court of the Fifth Circuit (the family court) erred in denying her motion to withdraw her December 30, 1999 no-contest plea, which had been filed on March 10, 2000, prior to her March 13, 2000 sentencing hearing. Valmoja claims that she is originally from the Philippines, English is her second language, and the "facts are uncontroverted" that she
did not understand what she was doing during her plea, she did not understand the plea she entered and wanted to fight the charges against her. She did not assault her boyfriend. In anticipation of her plea, her lawyer told her something that was factually inaccurate, i.e., if she went to trial on 12-30-99 and was found guilty, she would spend the next night, New Year's Eve 2000, in jail.

(Record citation omitted.) Our review of the record on appeal indicates that Valmoja was originally charged on July 22, 1999 with physical abuse of a family or household member, in violation of Hawaii

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Revised Statutes (HRS)

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