Joshua Spriestersbach: Hawaii: Previous post reveals how this unfortunate man spent more than two years locked in a state mental hospital after a Honolulu police officer mistook him for Thomas Castleberry, a convicted felon who had long been gone from the islands. Today's post sheds light on the question of the day: How could such a horrific error be made. The story, by Reporter Nick Grube, is headed: "Man Mistakenly Locked Up In State Mental Hospital Had Been Correctly ID'd By Police Before." Read on!

BACKGROUND: (Headnote to previous post on this story): August 6, 2021"

Joshua Spriestersbach: Hawaii; Outlandish mistaken identity murder case. Reminded me of the classic movie 'And Justice for All' starring Al Pacino, in which 'anything goes' - or is possible - in a justice system stretched to its seams - and beyond..."Hawaii officials wrongly arrested a homeless man for a crime committed by someone else, locked him up in a state hospital for more than two years, forced him to take psychiatric drugs and then tried to cover up the mistake by quietly setting him free with just 50 cents to his name, the Hawaii Innocence Project said in a court document asking a judge to set the record straight," the 'Star Advisor' story by Reporter Jennifer Sinco Kelleher begins. And then it gets really interesting. HL.

https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2021/08/joshua-spriestersbach-hawaii-outlandish.html

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STORY: "Man Mistakenly Locked Up In State Mental Hospital Had Been Correctly ID'd By Police Before," by Reporter Nick Grube, published by 'Honolulu Civil Beat' on October 1, 2021.

SUB-HEADING: "Newly obtained police reports reveal new details about the institutional failures that landed Joshua Priestersbach in The Hawaii State  Hosspital for more than two years,"

GIST: Joshua Spriestersbach spent more than two years locked in a state mental hospital after a Honolulu police officer mistook him for Thomas Castleberry, a convicted felon who had long been gone from the islands.

But Honolulu Police Department reports show that Spriestersbach had been arrested several times before the incident that landed him in the Hawaii State Hospital and correctly identified. On at least two occasions they considered whether he was really Castleberry and both times they decided he was not. Once they even acknowledged in the police report that his fingerprints did not match Castleberry’s.

During a third arrest, however, a police officer incorrectly identified Spriestersbach as Thomas Castleberry and tied him to an outstanding warrant for Castleberry.

Although Spriestersbach insisted he was not Castleberry, no one believed him and no steps were taken to figure out if he was telling the truth. Instead he was locked away in the state hospital until a doctor finally checked on his claims and determined he’d been telling the truth.

The case, when it came to light, captured the nation’s attention, and raised questions about how such a horrific error could be made."

The rest of this thorough, well-investigated  story can be read in its entirety at:

https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/honolulu-man-mistakenly-locked-up-in-state-mental-hospital-had-been-correctly-idd-by-police-before/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 

Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.--