KEALAKEKUA — A jury seated in 3rd Circuit Court listened to opening statements by the state and defense in the trial for a former Hawaii police officer accused of negligent homicide after allegedly fatally striking a cyclist while on-duty in March of 2015.
On Tuesday, 12 jurors and two alternates were selected. Afterward, Deputy Prosecutor Kauanoe Jackson presented her case. Brian De Lima, defense counsel for Jody Buddemeyer, followed with his opening statement.
Charges stem from the March 1, 2015 crash where the state alleges while operating a police subsidized vehicle, Buddemeyer struck cyclist Jeffrey Surnow, 69, of Michigan, from behind who was riding east on Waikoloa Road.
An indictment on Oct. 11, 2016, charged Buddemeyer with negligent homicide as well as tampering with physical evidence and false reporting to law enforcement. Since the burden of proof lies with the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Buddemeyer is guilty, Jackson gave her opening statement first. She went over the facts the prosecution will present to the jury throughout the trial.
“On March 1, 2015, Jeffrey Surnow said his last goodbyes to his wife and went on his morning bike ride,” she explained.
Jackson said there were witnesses who saw Surnow well off the shoulder while riding up Waikoloa Road and had a flashing red light behind his seat. She added there were witnesses that saw Buddemeyer move the bicycle and touch the victim’s body.
“Multiple witnesses passed the accident,” Jackson said. “They will tell you they didn’t see car parts or bikes on the roadway.”
Jackson added those parts were eventually found “methodically placed” in the trunk of Buddemeyer’s police vehicle as well as in the glove box.
“The defendant called it in as a hit and run,” Jackson said. “The responsible party had left the scene.”
As officers began to arrive to the scene of the crash, Buddemeyer returned.
“As the scene unfolds, the defendant leads fellow officers on a series of stories,” Jackson said. “One story was he hit a pig.”
The prosecutor explained to the jury that evidence will show Buddemeyer asked another officer if he should report it.
“The defendant added to the story that he went and looked for a pig and then ran over a body,” Jackson said. “Eventually, the defendant told one of the officers that he hit the cyclist.”
Along with car and bike parts, Jackson told jurors a print impression of Surnow’s bicycle was made on Buddemeyer’s vehicle. Also inside were evidence collection gloves that had Surnow’s DNA on them.
“We will ask that you find the defendant guilty,” Jackson said. “He negligently caused the death of Jeffrey Surnow. Evidence will show that the defendant intentionally concealed and moved evidence.”
De Lima next addressed the jury.
“This is a tragic case of a good man who has passed,” he said. “This is not a criminal case. This was an accident.”
De Lima went on to explain the state of road at the time of the crash. The roadway at the time didn’t have a paved shoulder. It was dark when his client impacted Surnow’s bike.
At the time, De Lima explained, Buddemeyer was stationed in Waimea. On Feb. 28, 2015, he had worked a 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift. He was then scheduled to return later that evening at 10:30 p.m.
De Lima said Buddemeyer had seven hours of off-duty time to sleep, run errands and do whatever he needed to do before returning to work.
“Evidence will establish there is inherent and systemic issue with the policy in place that are not best practices,” De Lima said.
While there’s no disputing Buddemeyer hit Surnow, De Lima said, his client was traveling 35 mph, the cyclist’s bike didn’t have reflectors on the tires.
“Immediately upon impact, he thought he hit a pig,” De Lima said of Buddemeyer. “He did not think he’d hit a cyclist.”
De Lima told the jury that officers observed Buddemeyer the morning of the crash to be distraught, upset and in shock. Interviews of Buddemeyer conducted by psychiatrists show his client reacted with acute stress.
“Evidence will also concede that Mr. Buddemeyer was not speeding, not on his phone, not texting, not operating a vehicle in a negligent manner,” he said. He had not been drinking or ingested drugs. It was an accident.”
The prosecution will begin calling witnesses today. Judge Melvin Fujino expects the trial to last about two weeks.