State settles
inmate-beating
lawsuit for $100,000

Daniel Tupuola claimed that he
was restrained and severely beaten
while he was a prisoner

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

The state has agreed to pay a Halawa inmate $100,000 to settle a lawsuit that claimed he was restrained and severely beaten under a "special case policy" aimed at punishing problem prisoners.

The lawsuit filed by Daniel Tupuola was the last of three to be settled alleging inmate abuse in Hawaii's prisons from May to August 1995.

Inmates then were confined in special holding areas and beaten repeatedly while in cuffs and chains, according to the suits.

Possessions, clothing and personal hygiene items also were taken from them.

Settlement of Tupuola's May 1997 suit, announced yesterday in federal court, was a "friendly resolution agreeable to both sides," said Deputy Attorney General Marty Basiszta.

Carl Varady, the attorney for Tupuola, said his client is very relieved the case is over and wants to put it behind him. "I am very pleased for my client and with the settlement that was achieved," he said.

At the time of the beating, Tupuola was serving time for armed robbery.

He claimed he was restrained in leg shackles and handcuffs for 44 days and severely beaten, allegedly because he looked threatening, Varady said.

Tupuola was kept in a 60-degree concrete cell, 24 hours a day in full restraints with no toilet paper or toothbrush, he said.

While no medical records were kept on Tupuola's injuries, he sustained injuries similar to those suffered by Anthony DeGuzman, another inmate who filed a suit, according to Varady.

DeGuzman was black and blue from his buttocks down from repeated beatings, he said.

The guards alleged Tupuola had pelted them with human waste, an allegation Varady disputed since the inmate's hands were handcuffed and shackled to belly chains.

What was extremely disturbing was that the guards acted under a "special case policy," a written policy instituted by former warden Guy Hall and upper management to deal with unruly inmates, Varady said.

"They should have known what was going on and didn't do anything about it," the attorney said.

Hall no longer is with the Public Safety Department. Department Director Ted Sakai could not be reached for comment.

Frank Goto, the attorney for guards who were sued, also could not be reached.

While the prisons have a policy that allows guards to use force to control violent behavior, they are prohibited from using force and restraints to inflict physical pain and punishment, Varady said.

"There is a distinction between control and punishment," he said.

The special case policy has since been suspended, he said.

In response to a lawsuit filed by Terence B. Allen, a former prison doctor who exposed inmate abuse at Halawa, then-Public Safety Director George Iranon admitted the special case policy was prohibited by the department's policy on use of corporal punishment, Varady said.

Halawa now is being run by former Oahu Community Correctional Center warden Nolan Espinda.

"We don't believe he would ever let this thing happen," Varady said.

The state settled DeGuzman's case for $210,000.

In the third such suit, inmate Ulysses Kim was given a $199,000 settlement.