Hospital not liable for wrongful detention of homeless man, judge rules
The Hawaii State Hospital was ruled not liable for a case of mistaken identity that led to a man being forcibly committed to one of its mental institutions, where he was locked up and medicated for nearly three years.
Last week, a judge granted the motion from the Hawaii State Department of Health, seeking its removal from pending litigation over the case of Joshua Spriestersbach, then 46, being arrested in 2017. Honolulu police believed he was a wanted man named Thomas Castleberry, who was accused of various drug-related offenses.
While he was locked up at Oahu Community Correctional Center, Spriestersbach said he was relentlessly insistent that he was not Castleberry. However, the denial led to him being transferred to a psychiatric facility run by the state, where he was deemed to be insane. He remained there until 2020, when a doctor finally investigated Spriestersbach’s claims, resulting in his release.
However, according to the lawsuit, in 2018 the hospital system helped Spriestersbach to get a Social Security card and state ID that showed he was, indeed, not Castleberry. All the same, he remained detained for another two years.
A judge ruled, however, that Hawaii State Hospital was not responsible for his arrest and detainment, as that responsibility fell on the legal system. As a result of the ruling, staff at the psychiatric facility can also likely not be sued, according to an expert who spoke with Hawaii News Now.
Homeless and wrongly accused
According to their coverage, Spriestersbach was homeless when he was detained in 2017. Despite being fingerprinted, he was never checked for a match to Castleberry, or there was some kind of clerical error.
Spriestersbach filed his lawsuit in 2021 and has yet to receive justice. In December, Hawaii News Now reported that there’s a settlement hearing scheduled on the case. Remaining defendants include the state public defender’s office, who represented Spriestersbach; the Honolulu police department and individual officers who made the wrongful arrest.
It’s unclear why police suspected him of being Castleberry.
Spriestersbach is seeking compensation for the alleged violation of his civil rights, time lost as a result of wrongful imprisonment, and punitive damages. If a settlement is not reached, his lawsuit will likely advance to trial.
HealthExec reached out to Hawaii State Hospital for comment and will update this story with any statement we receive.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.