Anyone that sells an illegal firework that injures or kills someone — even if the seller wasn’t around or lit it — could be charged with a Class B felony and face 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, under bills introduced by Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday.
Even if the seller didn’t know that a person would die, “if it can be proven they sold it and it caused those injuries, then it won’t matter,” state Deputy Attorney General Tricia Nakamatsu told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser after Green introduced identical, 72-page fireworks bills in the Legislature: House Bill 1005 and Senate Bill 1324.
Green’s bills also call for enhanced penalties and new legal language aimed at easing “the standard of proof” to make cracking down on illegal pyrotechnics easier for law enforcement and freeing them up to issue multiple citations in one night, Nakamatsu said.
Green’s provision to increase penalties against sellers, however, represents a new approach in the Legislature to tackle illegal fireworks from multiple angles following the deadly New Year’s explosion in Salt Lake that killed four people, including a 3-year-old boy, and maimed dozens of others when a “cake bomb” exploded.
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State Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D, Kaneohe- Maunawili) worked with the Attorney General’s office on Green’s bills and also has introduced HB 806, which would fund Honolulu Police Department and state Department of Law Enforcement undercover sting operations aimed at catching both sellers and buyers.
Any current, former or retired state or county employee — including law enforcement officers — caught buying or selling illegal pyrotechnics also would lose half of their pensions if convicted of a Class C felony, along with five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
“We’re trying a couple of different angles with fireworks enforcement,” Matayoshi said. “We’re taking more direct action to find and prosecute both buyers and sellers.”
He plans to introduce a separate bill to lower the total weight of fireworks to increase penalties even if they’re not ignited.
“Even storing large amounts can kill your neighbors,” Matayoshi said.
Green’s bills seek to make it easier for law enforcement to issue citations to anyone they see lighting illegal fireworks that would cost violators $300 for each infraction.
They could issue multiple citations each New Year’s or Fourth of July instead of taking the time trying to build a criminal case that involves gathering evidence, sending it out for forensic testing, writing reports and then relying on expert testimony to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” Nakamatsu said.
Just gathering evidence for a case against illegal aerials can be impossible, she said, “because there’s nothing to collect.”
Under Green’s bill, an officer can watch someone ignite an aerial, issue a citation, then “move on and issue multiple citations in one night,” Nakamatsu said.
The bills also increase penalties in many cases, such as moving offenses as high as Class A felonies, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $20,000 in penalties.
Tonight’s the deadline to introduce bills this legislative session, and Nakamatsu said the Attorney General’s office will “take a look at whatever else come out” to further crack down on illegal pyrotechnics.
