Rule 305  Prima facie evidence.  A
statute providing that a fact or a group of facts is prima facie evidence of
another fact establishes a presumption within the meaning of this article
unless the statute expressly provides that such prima facie evidence is
conclusive. [L 1980, c 164, pt of §1]



 



RULE 305 COMMENTARY



 



  The purpose of this rule is to indicate the
construction that should be given to the large number of provisions, scattered
throughout the Hawaii Rev. Stat., which state that a fact, or a group of facts,
is "prima facie" evidence of another fact.  See, e.g., Hawaii Rev.
Stat. §560:1-107(1) (1976), making a certified or authenticated copy of a death
certificate prima facie evidence of the fact, place, date and time of death and
the identity of the decedent; §622-31, making a written finding of
"presumed death" prima facie evidence of the death of the person
named; §572-13(c), making a certified copy of a certificate of marriage prima
facie evidence of the fact of such marriage; §575-2, making the absence of a
husband or wife for six continuous months prima facie evidence of desertion;
§634-22, making a record or affidavit of process prima facie evidence of all
that it contains.



  A number of the statutory prima facie evidence provisions
contain express language to indicate whether the particular provision affects
the burden of proof or only the burden of producing evidence.  E.g., Hawaii
Rev. Stat. §584-4(b) (1976), which provides that prima facie evidence of
paternity may be overcome only by "clear and convincing evidence";
Hawaii Rev. Stat. §701-117 (1976), which provides that contrary evidence that
raises "a reasonable doubt in the mind of the trier of fact" is
sufficient.  Absent such explicit statutory clarification, judicial determination
will be required to determine whether a statutory provision creates a
presumption affecting the burden of proof or the burden of producing evidence
consistent with the criteria established in Rules 303(a) and 304(a) supra.



  A few statutes establish either a conclusive presumption,
e.g., Hawaii Rev. Stat. §76-51 (1976), or irrebuttable prima facie evidence,
e.g., Hawaii Rev. Stat. §480-22(a) (1976).  These are conclusive presumptions
as defined in Rule 301(2)(A) and, as such, they are not presumptions within the
intent of this article and are expressly excluded from the scope of this rule.