Joshua Spriestersbach fell asleep on a sidewalk while waiting his turn at a homeless shelter in Honolulu, Hawaii. Suddenly, a policeman found him and thought he was Thomas Castleberry, who had been wanted for drug trafficking since 2006.
Spriestersbach was arrested and sent to a psychiatric facility, where he was locked up for almost three years.
No one bothered to make comparisons, and they prosecuted Spriestersbach for a crime he never committed.
They ask for his release.
Spriestersbach’s complaints were useless because he was on psychiatric medication that kept him sedated all the time; attempts to prove that he was not Castleberry were in vain.
Now, the Hawaii Innocence Project has filed a court document to vacate the arrest and correct the charges of Joshua Spriestersbach.
“The more he expressed his innocence by stating that he was not Mr. Castleberry, the more he was declared delusional and psychotic by MSM staff and doctors.” The document says.
However, officials released Spriestersbach with just 50 cents in his pocket, believing that no one would care about one more homeless man on the street. But, currently, the Hawaii Innocence Project has filed a negligence lawsuit.