Strong opposition delays vote on $1.5 million settlement in fatal police shooting

Dozens of Honolulu police officers joined other city officials Wednesday to voice their opposition to a proposed $1.5 million settlement from the city related to the 2021 officer-involved shooting of an unarmed Black man.

City Council members ultimately postponed a vote to approve the settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of 29-year-old Lindani Myeni. Myeni was fatally shot on April 14, 2021, after an argument with officers outside a Honolulu vacation rental that he allegedly entered without permission.

The two officers who shot Myeni, Brent Sylvester and the seriously injured Garrick Orosco, were cleared of wrongdoing in June 2021 by Alm’s office, which declined to press charges against them.

Council members said they wanted time to review evidence and ask more questions of the Honolulu Attorney General’s Office in closed sessions of the Executive and Legal Affairs Committee. The issue will be taken up again at the next council meeting in November. If the settlement is not approved, the case will go to civil trial next year, said James Bickerton, an attorney for Myeni’s widow.

Lindsay Myeni, who filed the lawsuit in 2021, tearfully testified in support of the settlement, holding up her husband’s bloody shirt with bullet holes that he had worn that night.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi, Honolulu District Attorney Steve Alm, Honolulu State Police Union President Jonathan Frye and Police Chief Joe Logan encouraged council members to vote against the deal, saying they felt the police had done nothing wrong.

Alm testified Wednesday that Myeni was the attacker the night of the shooting and officers tried several less-lethal methods, including using a Taser, to subdue him. Myeni struck one of the officers, causing multiple facial fractures, and the officer was still unable to return to work, Alm said.

Alm also noted that Myeni, a former rugby player, suffered from Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that often occurs in people who have suffered repeated concussions or head trauma. CTE can cause confusion, mood swings and aggression, he said.

“My office is not a rubber stamp for HPD,” he said. “We take every case very seriously and in this case they acted appropriately.”

Myeni’s attorney told council members that Alm left out important information, including the fact that the officers did not tell Myeni they were police officers when they approached him. They also shined high-intensity flashlights called Maglites on his face, blinding him. He couldn’t see that he was being approached by officers and was trying to defend himself against unknown assailants, Bickerton said.

“Mr. Myeni had the right to defend himself,” he said. “It escalated wildly and quickly, but there was no reason, no reason to kill someone unarmed.”

Bickerton also objected to the presence of so many armed officers in City Council meeting rooms during testimony.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said later in a telephone interview. “It is a show of force in the truest sense of the word. It has no place in a democracy. If you want to come here and testify in a civil matter, leave your weapons at the station.”

Some council members said they were puzzled by what they said was a lack of communication between the city’s business consultant who negotiated the settlement and the city attorney’s office.

Most of the details of the case have already been discussed in closed sessions of the Executive and Legal Affairs Committee, but no one from the prosecutor’s office has presented or shared with the committee the findings of its 2021 report, said Councilmember Andria Tupola, who represents the Westside.

Council member Esther Kiaaina, who represents the Windward side, pointed out that the standard for proving guilt in a criminal case is different than proving liability in a civil case.

But Alm said he believes the city would prevail in a civil case because jurors would still need to be convinced that police acted inappropriately.

Frye said approving the settlement would signal to officials that their city does not support them.

“If we come to an agreement on this issue, we will send a message to every officer that they really don’t matter, their lives don’t matter,” he said. “I would rather see this case lost in court.”

Bickerton said he originally sought more than $5 million in damages for his client, but he and the city worked with a mediator to find a compromise. The settlement would bring peace to his client’s family and provide a better future for Myeni’s children, now ages three and five, he said.

“It provides peace, not only for the Myeni family but also for the officers themselves,” he said.

Lindsay Myeni told council members that her husband, who was originally from South Africa and moved with her to her home state of Hawaii, was a community leader, spoke five languages, studied engineering and had at one point tried to become a police officer himself.

“He was almost one of you,” she said, turning to the officials standing behind her in the council chambers. “I wish you had just talked to him like humans and not exterminated him.”