(1) It is a defense to a prosecution for theft that the defendant:

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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 708-834

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
(a) Was unaware that the property or service was that of another; or
(b) Believed that the defendant was entitled to the property or services under a claim of right or that the defendant was authorized, by the owner or by law, to obtain or exert control as the defendant did.
(2) If the owner of the property is the defendant’s spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, it is a defense to a prosecution for theft of property that:

(a) The property which is obtained or over which unauthorized control is exerted constitutes household belongings; and
(b) The defendant and the defendant’s spouse or reciprocal beneficiary were living together at the time of the conduct.
(3) “Household belongings” means furniture, personal effects, vehicles, money or its equivalent in amounts customarily used for household purposes, and other property usually found in and about the common dwelling and accessible to its occupants.
(4) In a prosecution for theft, it is not a defense that the defendant has an interest in the property if the owner has an interest in the property to which the defendant is not entitled.

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