A 2001 Hawai'i Supreme Court decision may invalidate many older bench warrants waiting to be served, making prosecution of these criminal cases impossible if authorities did nothing to serve the court orders and the suspects didn't flee the state.

That there are so many outstanding warrants overwhelming sheriffs and police doesn't excuse the delay in serving them, the court ruled.

The decision placed in jeopardy potentially thousands of cases that are at least two years old, but the fact that many pending cases could be invalidated hasn't been widely publicized.

The Supreme Court ruling arose from a case against Vai Hapouli Lei, who was charged with petty misdemeanor traffic counts of driving without a license and drunken driving.

In throwing out the convictions, the Supreme Court justices noted that it took more than two years to serve Lei with the bench warrants that brought him to court.

Lei's defense lawyer pointed out that his client lived in Kalihi Valley and since Lei was a legal immigrant, immigration officials knew where he resided.

The court held that the "failure to prosecute with due diligence" required the case be dismissed. And the large number of outstanding warrants doesn't excuse the delay, the court said.

Defense and prosecuting attorneys said they are aware of the decision and its impact. Traffic cases have already been dismissed based on the ruling, but the number of cases thrown out could not be immediately determined.

First Deputy Public Defender Timothy Ho said defendants hauled into court on traffic warrants older than two years could get the cases dismissed if they can establish they lived here during that period. In fact, Ho said, there's a "very good chance" the judge would throw out the case.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle agrees such cases would probably have to be dismissed.

"You can't just forget about the guy," Carlisle said. "You've got to make some effort" to find him and bring him to court.

Each dismissal request will be handled on a "case-by-case" basis, said Judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa.

The decision applies to people who have yet to be tried on their criminal charges. It does not appear to apply to individuals who were found guilty and who have bench warrants issued to get them to pay the fines.

It is unclear how many of the estimated 51,000 outstanding traffic warrants and 7,800 pending misdemeanor warrants involve individuals who have yet to be found guilty, but are wanted on criminal charges.

A random review by The Advertiser of existing warrants showed thousands still sit in sheriffs' files that are more than two years old, including warrants for drivers who were cited, but not found guilty.

Although some pending felony bench warrants date to the 1980s, the issue doesn't arise as much in such cases because sheriffs and police put a priority on serving warrants for serious crimes and keep track of their efforts.

"Those guys are usually served within a week unless they left the state," Ho said. "But if it's a traffic warrant or a misdemeanor warrant, chances are there is nobody going out looking for that person."

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com and Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.