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The father of a Halawa inmate who died while in custody nearly two years ago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state. Father of Halawa
inmate who died in
custody files suitStar-Bulletin staff
Keane Toguchi, 37, was the first of four Hawaii inmates found dead in Hawaii's prisons within a three-month span beginning in December 1998.
The suit, filed yesterday in Circuit Court, accuses prison officials of negligence for failing to properly train their employees and failing to use "due care" toward Toguchi, and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
According to the suit, Toguchi suffered from serious psychological disabilities for which he has taken medication for 20 years. The state changed his medication, causing his to experience severe mental and physical symptoms.
Toguchi was put in the prison medical unit on Dec. 21, 1998. His condition worsened. He died two days later.
The department in April 1999 had announced it was conducting an investigation into Toguchi's death, based on a medical examiner's ruling that Toguchi had died from an overdose of the prescription drug Zoloft and the over-the-counter antihistamine Benadryl.
The department's initial investigation found no wrongdoing.