Wayman Kaua v. Clayton Frank, Warden, Halawa Correctional Facility State of Hawaii
Opinion
Opinion
Nelson, J.
Appellants, the State of Hawaii and Clayton Frank, appeal the Hawaii district court’s grant of Wayman Kaua’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253, and we affirm. The Hawaii sentencing court found that an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public in Kaua’s case. Because the effect of this finding was to increase Kaua’s sentence above that authorized by the jury’s guilty verdict, we hold that Apprendi v. New Jersey required a jury to make the finding. In reaching the opposite conclusion, the Hawaii Supreme Court applied a rule — the “intrinsicextrinsic” analysis — contrary to the rule that Apprendi announced. The district court properly granted the writ.
BACKGROUND
In 1999, Kaua was indicted in state court in connection with a hostage standoff. A jury acquitted Kaua of attempted murder in the first degree, but convicted him of several other offenses. These offenses included class-A felonies carrying twenty-year maximum sentences, class-B felonies carrying ten-year maximum sentences, and class-C felonies carrying five-year maximum sentences.