Investigation Shows Hawaii Prison Officials Tried To Cover Up Errors Leading Up To An Inmate’s Death 0 The internal affairs report claimed staff had been trained in suicide prevention policies, and a guard made the required cell checks. Neither was true, and an inmate died.
An internal affairs investigation into the death of an inmate at the state’s largest prison reached “false and self-serving conclusions” as part of an alleged cover-up of flaws in the training and actions of prison staff members, according to a report by an expert in correctional mental health systems.
The report by Dr. Pablo Stewart on the suicide of a Halawa Correctional Facility inmate five years ago alleges the investigation by Internal Affairs investigator Darren Tsuha contradicted the “clear video evidence” in the case that showed a corrections officer failed to make required cell checks on the inmate.
“In fact, it is my opinion that the Internal Affairs Report prepared by Tsuha, and approved and accepted by Warden (Scott) Harrington, was an attempt to cover up serious staff errors and omissions that any competent investigator would have identified,” Stewart wrote.
