Overview
- Joshua Spriestersbach will receive $975,000 from the City and County of Honolulu, and reports say he may also get up to $200,000 from the state for claims tied to the public defender's office.
- He was arrested in 2017 while waiting for food outside a Chinatown shelter, spent four months in jail, then more than two years at Hawaii State Hospital until his release on January 17, 2020.
- A hospital psychiatrist prompted a fresh review that led to fingerprint checks confirming he was not the wanted man, Thomas Castleberry.
- The error began in 2011 when he gave the surname “Castleberry,” and although 2015 fingerprints proved he was not Thomas Castleberry, police records were not fixed, which set up the 2017 arrest.
- His lawsuit says officials ignored fingerprints and photos, labeled him delusional, and forced medication, and advocates warn his records must be corrected to prevent another mistaken arrest.