Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 708-836

Unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in the first degree

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case State v. Randles (2006)

Most recently applied in State v. Figueroa (December 2023)

L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 1974, c 38, §1; gen ch 1993; am L 1996, c 195, §2; am L 1999, c 11, §1; am L 2001, c 87, §2; am L 2021, c 6, §3; am L 2022, c 53, §2

How often courts cite this section

200620102020202310
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person commits the offense of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in the first degree if the person intentionally or knowingly exerts unauthorized control over another's propelled vehicle by operating the propelled vehicle without the owner's consent or by changing the identity of the propelled vehicle without the owner's consent.

(2) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant:

(a) Received authorization to use the propelled vehicle from an agent of the owner where the agent had actual or apparent authority to authorize the use;

(b) Is a lien holder or legal owner of the propelled vehicle, or an authorized agent of the lien holder or legal owner, engaged in the lawful repossession of the propelled vehicle; or

(c) Purchased the vehicle and reasonably believed oneself to be the actual owner of the vehicle.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

"Owner" means the registered owner of the propelled vehicle or the unrecorded owner of the propelled vehicle pending transfer of ownership; provided that if there is no registered owner of the propelled vehicle or unrecorded owner of the propelled vehicle pending transfer of ownership, "owner" means the legal owner.

"Propelled vehicle" means an automobile, airplane, motorcycle, motorboat, or other motor-propelled vehicle.

(4) Unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in the first degree is a class C felony.

Official source: Hawaii State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Hawaii statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.