(1) A person commits the offense of manslaughter if:

Attorney's Note

Under the Hawaii Revised Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class A felony20 years to lifeup to $50,000
For details, see Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-659
criminal case

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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 707-702

  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
(a) The person recklessly causes the death of another person; or
(b) The person intentionally causes another person to commit suicide; provided that this section shall not apply to actions taken under chapter 327L.
(2) In a prosecution for murder or attempted murder in the first and second degrees it is an affirmative defense, which reduces the offense to manslaughter or attempted manslaughter, that the defendant was, at the time the defendant caused the death of the other person, under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is a reasonable explanation. The reasonableness of the explanation shall be determined from the viewpoint of a reasonable person in the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be; provided that an explanation that is not otherwise reasonable shall not be determined to be reasonable because of the defendant’s discovery, defendant’s knowledge, or the disclosure of the other person’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the other person made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant, or in which the defendant and the other person dated or had a romantic relationship. If the defendant’s explanation includes the discovery, knowledge, or disclosure of the other person’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, the court shall instruct the jury to disregard biases or prejudices regarding the other person’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation in reaching a verdict.
(3) Manslaughter is a class A felony.

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