§801-1 Indictment, complaint, or
information. (a) No person shall be subject to be tried and sentenced to
be punished in any court, for an alleged offense, unless upon indictment,
complaint, or information, except for offenses within the jurisdiction of a
district court or in summary proceedings for contempt. For any felony offense
to be tried and sentenced upon complaint, a finding of probable cause after a
preliminary hearing, or a waiver of the probable cause determination at the
preliminary hearing, shall be required.
(b) If initiation of a felony prosecution is
sought via an indictment by a grand jury or a finding of probable cause after a
preliminary hearing, and is denied, initiation of a felony prosecution for the
same offense using the same or an available alternative charging method or by
seeking a different judge or jury shall not be permitted unless:
(1) Additional material evidence is presented;
(2) The initial hearing was before a grand jury and
there is a subsequent finding of grand jury misconduct or grand jury counsel
misconduct; or
(3) A court, upon application of the prosecutor,
finds good cause to allow a subsequent presentation; provided that this
paragraph shall not apply if prosecutors have previously sought a subsequent
presentation for good cause. [PC 1869, c 2, §2; RL 1925, §3931; RL 1935, §5352;
RL 1945, §10684; RL 1955, §253-4; HRS §705-4; ren L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L
2023, c 1, §2]
Cross References
See Const. art. 1, §10.
Rules of Court
Indictment, information, or complaint, see HRPP rule 7.
Applicability of rules, see HRPP rules 1, 54.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
15
cases (
13 in the last 5 years), 1996–2026 · leading case:
State v. Obrero., 517 P.3d 755 (Haw. 2022).
State v. Obrero., 517 P.3d 755 (Haw. 2022).
· cites it 115× “HRS § 801-1. Defendant-Appellant Richard Obrero argues the State violated HRS § 801-1 by using the complaint and preliminary hearing process to prosecute him for second-degree murder, attempted murder in the first and second degree, and use of firearm in the commission of a…”
State v. Sinagoga, 918 P.2d 228 (Haw. App. 1996).
· cites it 4× “[12] This court has held that under article I, section 14 of the Hawai`i Constitution and HRS § 801-1 (1993), a criminal defendant is entitled to be represented by counsel in every case where the defendant is charged with a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment and not only…”
State v. Medeiros, 973 P.2d 736 (Haw. 1999).
· cites it 2× “The Ordinance conflicts with Article 8, section 3 of the Hawaii Constitution, HRS Title 37, Hawaii Penal Code, and HRS § 801-1 20. Although not necessary to the court’s ruling, the court further concludes that a state court may, as a part of sentencing, assess costs against an…”
Deangelo v. Souza., 520 P.3d 253 (Haw. 2022).
· cites it 4× “On August 25, Deangelo moved to dismiss the case because he had not been indicted in accordance with HRS § 801-1 (2014). See State v. Obrero, 151 Hawaiʻi 472, 517 P.”
State v. Bautista, 524 P.3d 1271 (Haw. App. 2023).
· cites it 14× “Obrero, HRS, and HRPP In Obrero, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court held that the State's prosecution of the defendant by complaint instead of indictment violated HRS § 801-1 (2014). Obrero, 151 Hawai‘i at 475, 482, 517 P.”
State v. White (Haw. App. 2024).
· cites it 10× “On appeal, White raises four points of error (POEs), contending that: (1) White's "conviction must be set aside" because the prosecution via Complaint violated HRS § 801-1 (2014)4 under State v. Obrero, 151 Hawaiʻi 472, 478, 482, 517 P.”
State v. White, 154 Haw. 289 (Haw. App. 2024).
· cites it 10× “On appeal, White raises four points of error (POEs), contending that: (1) White's "conviction must be set aside" because the prosecution via Complaint violated HRS § 801-1 (2014) 5 under State v. Obrero, 151 Hawaiʻi 472, 478, 482, 517 P.”
Chatman v. State, 542 P.3d 292 (Haw. App. 2024).
· cites it 7× “The State argues, among other things, that Obrero does not apply because Chatman raises his HRS § 801-1 challenge for the "first time on appeal[,]" and "does not allege that he was prejudiced by the complaint" nor that "the complaint cannot be construed to charge a crime.”
State v. Roman-Peter, 537 P.3d 1210 (Haw. 2023).
· cites it 4× “Obrero held that charging a defendant with a felony by complaint, rather than through an indictment or information, violates HRS § 801-1. Id. Roman-Peter moved to dismiss based on Obrero.”
State v. Blas (Haw. App. 2026).
· cites it 4× “I, § 10; HRS §§ 801-1 and 806-7; Hawaiʻi Rules of Penal Procedure Rule 7.”
Hughes v. State, 501 P.3d 333 (Haw. App. 2021).
· cites it 2× “The procedures of HRS §§ 801-1, 806-6, 806-8 and HRPP 5(c) and 7(h) established proper jurisdiction.”
State v. Croke, 541 P.3d 666 (Haw. App. 2024).
· cites it 2× “" Further, under HRS § 801-1(a) (2014): No person shall be subject to be tried and sentenced to be punished in any court, for an alleged offense, unless upon indictment, complaint, or information, except for offenses within the jurisdiction of a district court or in summary…”
— Haw. Rev. Stat. § 801-1(a) — 1 case
State v. Croke, 541 P.3d 666 (Haw. App. 2024).
“" Further, under HRS § 801-1(a) (2014): No person shall be subject to be tried and sentenced to be punished in any court, for an alleged offense, unless upon indictment, complaint, or information, except for offenses within the jurisdiction of a district court or in summary…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.