Smythe v. Meyers

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
18-APR-2024
08:21 AM
Dkt. 55 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

ISETTE PIKAKE KAEHUAEA SMYTHE and JAMIE KALEINANI SMYTHE
ESPRECION, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
EMMA NAOMI MEYERS aka NAOMI EMMA HOLT; BUSHROD G. MEYERS,
Defendants-Appellants;
and
JOHN DOES 1-10; DOE CORPORATIONS 1-10;
DOE PARTNERSHIPS 1-10; and DOE ENTITIES 1-10,
Defendants

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
(CASE NO. 1CC161002245)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Hiraoka, Presiding Judge, Nakasone and McCullen, JJ.)

Emma Naomi Meyers and Bushrod G. Meyers (the Meyerses)
appeal from the "Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part
Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and for a Writ of
Ejectment" and the "Writ of Ejectment" entered by the Circuit
Court of the First Circuit on March 1, 2019.1 We affirm.
This case is about land (the Property) owned by the
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). Mervin Smythe leased
the Property from DHHL. The Meyerses lived there. After Mervin
died there was a dispute between the Meyerses and Mervin's
nieces, Isette Pikake Kaehuae Smythe and Jamie Kaleinani Smythe

1
The Honorable Dean E. Ochiai presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Esprecion (the Nieces) over who would succeed to Mervin's lease.
After a contested case hearing the Hawaiian Homes Commission
ordered Mervin's lease transferred to Nieces, retroactive to
June 26, 2012. Emma appealed. The circuit court affirmed. Emma
filed a secondary appeal. We affirmed. Meyers v. Hawaiian Homes
Comm'n, No. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX, 2023 WL 4636728 (Haw. App. July 20,
2023) (mem.) (Meyers I).
Nieces filed the complaint below against the Meyerses
on December 9, 2016. The complaint alleged that Nieces were DHHL
lessees; they acquired their interests from Mervin by order of
the Commission; and the Meyerses lived on their property and
refused to vacate. Nieces sought, among other things, a writ of
ejectment. Nieces moved for partial summary judgment and a writ
of ejectment. The Order and Writ were entered on March 1, 2019.
This appeal followed.
The Meyerses argue that the Commission erred by
ordering that Nieces succeed to Mervin's lease. Emma, who was a
party in Meyers I, and Bushrod, who is in privity with Emma, are
precluded from challenging the Commission's Order. Bremer v.
Weeks, 104 Hawai#i 43, 53, 85 P.3d 150, 160 (2004). Even if
claim or issue preclusion did not apply, the circuit court
applied the correct law to the uncontroverted facts. The "Order
Granting in Part and Denying in Part Plaintiffs' Motion for
Partial Summary Judgment and for a Writ of Ejectment" and the
"Writ of Ejectment," both entered on March 1, 2019, are affirmed.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, April 18, 2024.

On the briefs:
/s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
E. Mason Martin III, Presiding Judge
for Defendants-Appellants.
/s/ Karen T. Nakasone
Ryan G.S. Au, Associate Judge
for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
/s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
Associate Judge

2