HILO — A 57-year-old Hilo man is suing the state Department of Public Safety, alleging he was kept in jail more than two months longer than his court-imposed sentence.
Attorney Al Thompson filed the civil lawsuit Friday in Hilo District Court on behalf of Byron Mitsuo Miyashiro. The lawsuit, which seeks at least $40,000 in damages, also names as defendants DPS Director Nolan Espinda, Deputy Director of Corrections Alan Asato, Hawaii Community Correctional Center, HCCC Warden Peter Cabreros and unnamed “Doe” defendants.
On Feb. 18, 2014, Miyashiro was sentenced to four years probation and a year in jail for his second habitual DUI conviction within a year. Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara also reset the clock on Miyashiro’s previous five-year probation term. Miyashiro was given credit for time served. He had been in custody since his arrest Nov. 10, 2013, and Hara set his release date for both DUI cases as Nov. 9, 2014, according to court records.
According to the complaint, Miyashiro was “not released until January 13, 2015, and was held against his will and falsely imprisoned by the intentional actions of the employees of Defendant DPS … even though he protested to the employees of DPS that he was to be released on November 9, 2014.”
“He was held for 65 days after he was supposed to be released, so basically that’s where we’re at,” Thompson said Wednesday. “I haven’t been able to contact the defendants as of yet. … Right now, they’re in the process of being served. … He was ordered by Judge Hara to be released on Nov. 9, and he wasn’t released until Jan. 13.”
In addition to false imprisonment, the suit alleges negligence by the defendants for keeping Miyashiro in custody.
According to the filing, Miyashiro worked in the kitchen during the 65-day period “and was subjected to daily strip searches after the end of his kitchen duties.”
The suit claims Miyashiro “suffered economic loss, humiliation, extreme mental anxiety, loss of companionship with friends and family as the direct and proximate result of his false imprisonment by defendants.” It also states that DPS employees “have a legal duty to insure that persons incarcerated are released upon their schedule release date,” and failure to do so “should carry a sanction in the award of exemplary damages so such conduct does not become the norm and to deter such conduct in the future.”
Reading from the judge’s sentence, Thompson said Miyashiro was “to be released Nov. 9, 2014, with the balance of any unserved jail time stayed on the condition of your compliance with the terms and conditions of your probation,” and added, “He was in jail the whole time, so he had to comply.”
DPS spokeswoman Toni Schwartz confirmed Wednesday Miyashiro was released by the Hilo jail on Jan. 13, 2015.
“There’s not anything specific I can say about his case because it is part of pending litigation, and it’s also part of an internal investigation into the matter, now that it’s been brought to our attention due to the litigation,” Schwartz said.
Thompson said as far as he knows, Miyashiro “wasn’t given any reason whatsoever” for being jailed longer than his court-imposed sentence. He added he hopes the lawsuit can be settled “in an amicable and expeditious manner.”
“He was incarcerated beyond when he was supposed to be released, and we just want justice to be served for him, for him to be compensated for his time,” Thompson said.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.