Latest news with #HouseBill990
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hawaii Legislature set to pay out $9.5 million for claims
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2023 The state is prepared to pay loss claims totaling $9.5 million this year. Two of the biggest cases involve settlements in traffic accident litigation. Honolulu police and an ambulance respond to a multiple-car crash in Honolulu. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2023 The state is prepared to pay loss claims totaling $9.5 million this year. Two of the biggest cases involve settlements in traffic accident litigation. Honolulu police and an ambulance respond to a multiple-car crash in Honolulu. Unwanted hugs from a judge, an infamous false missile alert and a mishap with a log splitter are among incidents for which the state is prepared to pay loss claims totaling $9.5 million this year. Hawaii lawmakers are expected to give final approval today to pay 38 claims mainly tied to litigation over actions of state personnel or conditions of state property that caused or contributed to losses suffered by people. The claims to be funded by taxpayers are laid out in House Bill 990, which is scheduled for final House and Senate votes today after legislative leaders agreed to a new draft of the bill with additional claims Friday. This year's $9.5 million cost is down from $18.1 million for 41 claims in 2024 and $25.7 million for 35 claims in 2023. The two biggest cases this year involve settlements in traffic accident litigation. In one the state agreed to pay $1.75 million to the widow of a motorcyclist who was killed on Hawaii island in 2022 after crashing into the vehicle of a public school teacher who was trying to make a U-turn on a divided highway on the way to delivering supplies for a school summer camp in a park. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The second-biggest claim to be paid is almost $1.1 million for the father of a man who died after being hit by two cars while trying to cross Farrington Highway in a crosswalk in Maili. A lawsuit filed in 2021 alleged that the crosswalk presented a pedestrian hazard and was among 13 crosswalks at unsignalized intersections on the highway in West Oahu that a consultant to the state Department of Transportation in 2017 recommended for removal. 'Many of these crosswalks had between one to three prior crossing accidents and had very low pedestrian usage, ' the Department of the Attorney General said in a description of the case presented to the Legislature. The removal work, however, was integrated with road resurfacing, bus stop relocations and other work that involved lane closures and took place in two phases. The first phase began in 2018 and was still underway when the fatal accident occurred in 2019. Most appropriations in HB 990 are for legal settlements. Four claims involve court judgments. There are also 10 miscellaneous claims amounting to $1 million for replacing outdated, lost or misplaced state checks issued to people and companies. Judgments include a case brought by a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia who filed a federal lawsuit in 2024 after the Honolulu Police Department denied the man a permit to acquire a gun. The plaintiff, Billy Peter, contended that state law governing firearms violated parts of the U.S. Constitution, including its equal protection clause. Peter was awarded $28, 500 in a stipulated judgment. Another judgement, for $512, 701, involves an unidentified 'John Roe ' plaintiff who claimed in a 2019 state lawsuit that the state Department of Human Services decades ago negligently placed him in the custody of a foster parent who was already caring for several troubled teenage boys. A judge found that the plaintiff was sexually abused while in the foster home and that DHS was grossly negligent in placing the plaintiff in the home and did not properly monitor him through regular visits. Like the John Roe case, some payments for claims against the state involve incidents that happened many years ago. For instance, a pending $400, 000 payment deals with a 2016 lawsuit filed by Royal Contracting Co. against the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands over allegations that DHHL did not clearly state the amount of coral fill needed to grade a homestead subdivision project in Kapolei. The case was settled after multiple rounds of mediation over several years. In another case from years ago, a man claimed that he suffered a heart attack that required surgery and hospitalization after receiving a false ballistic missile attack warning sent to the general public via text by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency on Jan. 13, 2018. This case was settled for $275, 000. The oldest incident tied to HB 990 goes back roughly 50 years. In this case two plaintiffs agreed to receive $330, 000 to settle claims from a 2020 lawsuit over alleged sexual abuse by a security guard who supervised on-and off-campus programs at Highlands Intermediate School in the mid-1970s. More recent and higher-profile claims set to be paid this year include a $750, 000 settlement over then-Deputy Sheriff Gregory Bergman fatally shooting Delmar Espejo on state Capitol grounds in 2019 during an altercation sparked by Espejo refusing to pour out a container of vodka. Espejo's relatives sued the state in 2021. Another well-publicized case was brought by former Stevenson Middle School Principal Katherine Balatico, who settled a 2022 federal lawsuit over claims that state Department of Education officials failed to adequately protect her amid anonymous violent threats and sexual harassment from May 2020 through January 2021 while she was principal, and retaliated against her for questioning the department's response. According to a memo for lawmakers, DOE, HPD and the FBI investigated the threats to no avail while DOE implemented a safety plan for Balatico that included private security at her home and at school, installing more security cameras on campus and locking administration building access. The memo also said DOE later terminated the safety plan and began recruiting to fill Balatico's position while Balatico was on worker's compensation leave in 2022. This case was settled for $150, 000. Another lawsuit that received some media coverage and is part of HB 990 appropriations involves a former judicial assistant to Chief Judge Randal G.B. Valenciano of 5th Circuit Court on Kauai. Plaintiff Leanne Rosa filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 accusing the judge of unwanted 'hugs ' in 2015 and during 2018 through 2023, according to the state Department of the Attorney General. Valenciano denied the allegations. A $90, 000 settlement was reached. State attorneys also agreed to settle several cases where people fell on public property, including someone who fell off an unlit pier on Molokai's Kalaupapa Peninsula in 2018 and a hiker who fell onto a piece of rebar protruding from the ground in Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai in 2021. In another serious mishap, a Castle High School student had his left pinkie finger severed in a pinch point on a mechanical log splitter being set up for use in the school's annual Thanksgiving imu fundraiser in 2021. Settlements in these three cases are for $50, 000, $450, 000 and $75, 000, respectively.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Hawaii set to pay $750,000 in wrongful death settlement
COURTESY PHOTO Delmar Espejo : The 28-year-old was shot by a sheriff's deputy at the state Capitol in 2019 COURTESY PHOTO Delmar Espejo : The 28-year-old was shot by a sheriff's deputy at the state Capitol in 2019 The state Legislature is expected to approve a $750, 000 settlement in the 2019 wrongful shooting death of an unarmed, disabled, homeless man by an on-duty state deputy sheriff, who was not criminally held responsible but since faces scrutiny in the deaths of two more people in 2021 and 2022 while a police officer in San Diego. Delmar Espejo, 28, was shot in the back at close range and killed on Feb. 18, 2019, at the state Capitol rotunda by former Deputy Sheriff Gregory Bergman. The victim's family filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the state and Bergman on Feb. 17, 2021. A jury awarded $2.27 million to Espejo's mother, Cresencia Espejo, including $1.52 million in punitive damages. The shooting of Espejo was the 12th in a string of 16 shootings by Oahu law enforcement officers from 2018 to March 2019, eight of them deadly. The fatal shootings by Bergman and a second by a prison guard in March 2019 were the first fatal shootings in at least the previous 10 years by Department of Public Safety officers. The state sought to overturn both the jury's verdict and a judge's findings and conclusions against the state and Bergman, who left Hawaii shortly after Espejo was killed. He became a police officer in San Diego, where he was involved in the shooting of a suicidal man ; the other, a man shot in the back, on his knees allegedly surrendering. Bergman was never held criminally responsible for Espejo's death. The Department of the Attorney General in September 2019 cleared him, saying there was insufficient evidence to charge him, despite the Honolulu Police Department having opened a second-degree murder case after an autopsy revealed Espejo was shot in the back at close range. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The AG spokesperson at the time said the Attorney General's Office reached its conclusion by relying on HPD's preliminary findings and did not conduct its own investigation. After the verdict in the civil case, the state and Bergman, who claimed self-defense, had filed a motion for a new trial, but instead a closed settlement conference was held Feb. 6. The parties reached a confidential agreement. The state's $750, 000 portion was made public when it sought approval by the Legislature in House Bill 990 with other judgments against the state and settlement of claims. The Department of the Attorney General did not respond to requests for comment. On the evening of Feb. 18, 2019, Bergman was making his rounds and encountered Espejo, who had been drinking alcohol at about 8 :20 p.m. at the Ewa-makai corner of the state Capitol rotunda. At a news conference the following day, then-Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda told the public the shooting resulted from an 'extreme struggle ' between a deputy sheriff and Espejo, who refused to dispense of his drink container, was combative and failed to obey numerous commands to stop fighting. Instead of waiting for backup, the deputy got up close enough to Espejo so that according to Espinda's narrative, Espejo wrapped his arms around the deputy sheriff who, at over 6 feet 2 inches tall and 205 pounds, towered above the 5-foot-3, 117-pound shooting victim. Espinda said that's when the deputy's gun discharged and killed Espejo. Espejo walked with a limp and had withered legs from congenital polio as a child, which required surgery, his family and his family's attorney, Myles Breiner, said. Espinda said there was no surveillance footage of the shooting at the state Capitol, despite numerous security cameras there. Circuit Court jurors, in an overwhelming majority—11 to 1—found Nov. 29 that punitive damages in the amount of $1.52 million should be awarded to Espejo's mother and against Bergman. Jurors found that compensatory and /or general damages of $750, 000 should also go to Espejo's mother. The majority of jurors, 10 to 2, found Bergman was negligent in his use of force. But a majority did not find that, based on the evidence, Bergman used excessive / unreasonable force, and none found he committed battery on Espejo. The jury unanimously found the state breached its duties to properly train and /or supervise Bergman. Circuit Judge Dean Ochiai, in his Jan. 10 findings of fact and conclusions of law, awarded $750, 000 in general damages to Cresencia Espe jo, 'in which Bergman and the State of Hawaii are jointly and severally liable.' The judge found Bergman violated training, department policy on use of force, failed to wait for backup, failed to remain 6 feet away, and shot Espejo in the back while pushing him down onto his stomach. The lawsuit was initially filed against the state, Public Safety Department, Sheriff Division, Bergman in his individual capacity and Public Safety Director Nolan Espin da individually and in his official capacity. The judge found Bergman, who had been a deputy sheriff for less than two years, called but failed to wait for backup. He confronted Espejo for drinking alcohol, a petty misdemeanor, and ordered him to pour out the drink. 'From the time Bergman reached toward Espejo to force him to pour out the bottle in less than 1 minute, (he ) had shot Espejo in his upper back, ' the judge said. An Internal Affairs investigator and Bergman testified he had at least six opportunities to call for backup and maintain a 6-foot distance and use a baton or pepper spray, but instead rushed to tackle Espejo for refusing to pour out the drink. 'While pushing Espejo down onto his stomach, Bergman discharged one round into the unarmed Espejo's back, ' the judge found. The judge quoted Bergman's testimony as to why he did not follow the department's crisis intervention training that avoids injury to officer and citizens and the need to deescalate and wait for backup. Bergman said, 'I thought I could take him, ' according to the Internal Affairs investigator's testimony. The court also found that numerous items of evidence, which should have been in the state's custody and control, were lost. They include footage from eight HPD body cameras, Bergman's interview with HPD and video footage from the state Capitol. The San Diego Police Department confirmed with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Bergman was hired in 2019 shortly after the Hawaii shooting, but would not respond to questions concerning the San Diego shootings, nor whether he is in good standing. The California Department of Justice is investigating Bergman and another officer in the Dec. 8, 2022, shooting of John Ray Romero, the Office of the Attorney General's website shows. In that case, Romero had a gun pointed to his own head when police arrived, according to news reports. He asked police to shoot him. Bergman and another officer reportedly did. In a July 23, 2021, case, Bergman was one of two officers involved in the shooting death of Jesus Veleta, a 22-year-old armed man who was shot in the back. The Veleta family filed a $20 million legal claim against San Diego County, alleging Veleta was in the process of surrendering and was on his knees with his back turned when he was shot. The complaint accuses the officers of using excessive and lethal force. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office had previously cleared Bergman and the other officer of criminal liability. The DA's report said Veleta stumbled and fell, and officers ordered him to drop the gun. He 'raised it up behind him back towards the officers.' Officers fired and struck him in the back. 'Veleta threw his handgun in front of him as the officers discharged their weapons, ' the report said. The DA concluded Veleta ignored multiple commands to drop the gun and made no indications he was going to surrender, and that the officers reasonably believed he would shoot them unless they fired.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
State set to pay $750,000 in wrongful death settlement
COURTESY PHOTO Delmar Espejo : The 28-year-old was shot by a sheriff's deputy at the state Capitol in 2019 COURTESY PHOTO Delmar Espejo : The 28-year-old was shot by a sheriff's deputy at the state Capitol in 2019 The state Legislature is expected to approve a $750, 000 settlement in the 2019 wrongful shooting death of an unarmed, disabled, homeless man by an on-duty state deputy sheriff, who was not criminally held responsible but since faces scrutiny in the deaths of two more people in 2021 and 2022 while a police officer in San Diego. Delmar Espejo, 28, was shot in the back at close range and killed on Feb. 18, 2019, at the state Capitol rotunda by former Deputy Sheriff Gregory Bergman. The victim's family filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the state and Bergman on Feb. 17, 2021. A jury awarded $2.27 million to Espejo's mother, Cresencia Espejo, including $1.52 million in punitive damages. The shooting of Espejo was the 12th in a string of 16 shootings by Oahu law enforcement officers from 2018 to March 2019, eight of them deadly. The fatal shootings by Bergman and a second by a prison guard in March 2019 were the first fatal shootings in at least the previous 10 years by Department of Public Safety officers. The state sought to overturn both the jury's verdict and a judge's findings and conclusions against the state and Bergman, who left Hawaii shortly after Espejo was killed. He became a police officer in San Diego, where he was involved in the shooting of a suicidal man ; the other, a man shot in the back, on his knees allegedly surrendering. Bergman was never held criminally responsible for Espejo's death. The Department of the Attorney General in September 2019 cleared him, saying there was insufficient evidence to charge him, despite the Honolulu Police Department having opened a second-degree murder case after an autopsy revealed Espejo was shot in the back at close range. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The AG spokesperson at the time said the Attorney General's Office reached its conclusion by relying on HPD's preliminary findings and did not conduct its own investigation. After the verdict in the civil case, the state and Bergman, who claimed self-defense, had filed a motion for a new trial, but instead a closed settlement conference was held Feb. 6. The parties reached a confidential agreement. The state's $750, 000 portion was made public when it sought approval by the Legislature in House Bill 990 with other judgments against the state and settlement of claims. The Department of the Attorney General did not respond to requests for comment. On the evening of Feb. 18, 2019, Bergman was making his rounds and encountered Espejo, who had been drinking alcohol at about 8 :20 p.m. at the Ewa-makai corner of the state Capitol rotunda. At a news conference the following day, then-Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda told the public the shooting resulted from an 'extreme struggle ' between a deputy sheriff and Espejo, who refused to dispense of his drink container, was combative and failed to obey numerous commands to stop fighting. Instead of waiting for backup, the deputy got up close enough to Espejo so that according to Espinda's narrative, Espejo wrapped his arms around the deputy sheriff who, at over 6 feet 2 inches tall and 205 pounds, towered above the 5-foot-3, 117-pound shooting victim. Espinda said that's when the deputy's gun discharged and killed Espejo. Espejo walked with a limp and had withered legs from congenital polio as a child, which required surgery, his family and his family's attorney, Myles Breiner, said. Espinda said there was no surveillance footage of the shooting at the state Capitol, despite numerous security cameras there. Circuit Court jurors, in an overwhelming majority—11 to 1—found Nov. 29 that punitive damages in the amount of $1.52 million should be awarded to Espejo's mother and against Bergman. Jurors found that compensatory and /or general damages of $750, 000 should also go to Espejo's mother. The majority of jurors, 10 to 2, found Bergman was negligent in his use of force. But a majority did not find that, based on the evidence, Bergman used excessive / unreasonable force, and none found he committed battery on Espejo. The jury unanimously found the state breached its duties to properly train and /or supervise Bergman. Circuit Judge Dean Ochiai, in his Jan. 10 findings of fact and conclusions of law, awarded $750, 000 in general damages to Cresencia Espe jo, 'in which Bergman and the State of Hawaii are jointly and severally liable.' The judge found Bergman violated training, department policy on use of force, failed to wait for backup, failed to remain 6 feet away, and shot Espejo in the back while pushing him down onto his stomach. The lawsuit was initially filed against the state, Public Safety Department, Sheriff Division, Bergman in his individual capacity and Public Safety Director Nolan Espin da individually and in his official capacity. The judge found Bergman, who had been a deputy sheriff for less than two years, called but failed to wait for backup. He confronted Espejo for drinking alcohol, a petty misdemeanor, and ordered him to pour out the drink. 'From the time Bergman reached toward Espejo to force him to pour out the bottle in less than 1 minute, (he ) had shot Espejo in his upper back, ' the judge said. An Internal Affairs investigator and Bergman testified he had at least six opportunities to call for backup and maintain a 6-foot distance and use a baton or pepper spray, but instead rushed to tackle Espejo for refusing to pour out the drink. 'While pushing Espejo down onto his stomach, Bergman discharged one round into the unarmed Espejo's back, ' the judge found. The judge quoted Bergman's testimony as to why he did not follow the department's crisis intervention training that avoids injury to officer and citizens and the need to deescalate and wait for backup. Bergman said, 'I thought I could take him, ' according to the Internal Affairs investigator's testimony. The court also found that numerous items of evidence, which should have been in the state's custody and control, were lost. They include footage from eight HPD body cameras, Bergman's interview with HPD and video footage from the state Capitol. The San Diego Police Department confirmed with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Bergman was hired in 2019 shortly after the Hawaii shooting, but would not respond to questions concerning the San Diego shootings, nor whether he is in good standing. The California Department of Justice is investigating Bergman and another officer in the Dec. 8, 2022, shooting of John Ray Romero, the Office of the Attorney General's website shows. In that case, Romero had a gun pointed to his own head when police arrived, according to news reports. He asked police to shoot him. Bergman and another officer reportedly did. In a July 23, 2021, case, Bergman was one of two officers involved in the shooting death of Jesus Veleta, a 22-year-old armed man who was shot in the back. The Veleta family filed a $20 million legal claim against San Diego County, alleging Veleta was in the process of surrendering and was on his knees with his back turned when he was shot. The complaint accuses the officers of using excessive and lethal force. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office had previously cleared Bergman and the other officer of criminal liability. The DA's report said Veleta stumbled and fell, and officers ordered him to drop the gun. He 'raised it up behind him back towards the officers.' Officers fired and struck him in the back. 'Veleta threw his handgun in front of him as the officers discharged their weapons, ' the report said. The DA concluded Veleta ignored multiple commands to drop the gun and made no indications he was going to surrender, and that the officers reasonably believed he would shoot them unless they fired.
