Hawaii
Eyewitness Identification Reform
Hawai’i has no state law requiring proper eyewitness identification procedures, however the Honolulu Police Department, which covers 80% of the state’s population, has a policy that includes: blind administration, proper use of fillers, proper instructions to the witness, and witness confidence statements. The Honolulu PD policy also includes procedure for show up identifications. Adopted: 2014.
Recording of Interrogations
Hawai'i has no state law requiring recorded interrogations, however the Honolulu Police Department, which covers 80% of the state's population, has a policy requiring the recording of custodial interrogations.
Post Conviction DNA Testing
Any person convicted and sentenced to a crime may apply for post-conviction DNA testing at any time. Effective: 2005; Amended most recently: 2006.
Evidence Preservation
State statute requires that all biological evidence be preserved for any case in which there was a conviction. The evidence must be preserved either until all appeals have been exhausted or the completion of an individual’s sentence, including any term of probation or parole; whichever occurs later. Effective: 2005.
Hawai'i's statute meets the best practices standards outlined by the NIST Technical Working Group on Biological Evidence Preservation.
Exoneree Compensation
State statute provides people who have been proven actually innocent with at least $50,000 per year of wrongful confinement. The law also provides for additional compensation of up to $100,000 if the court finds ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and up to $10,000 in attorney’s fees. Effective: 2016.