KEALAKEKUA — A new trial date was set for a former Hawaii Police Department officer charged with negligent homicide for allegedly fatally striking a bicyclist in March 2015. ADVERTISING KEALAKEKUA — A new trial date was set for a former
KEALAKEKUA — A new trial date was set for a former Hawaii Police Department officer charged with negligent homicide for allegedly fatally striking a bicyclist in March 2015.
Kona Circuit Court Judge Melvin Fujino set the jury trial for Jody Buddemeyer of Pahoa for May 30, resuming proceedings in the case after a mental fitness exam conducted by a panel of three doctors found Buddemeyer fit to stand trial.
Buddemeyer was slated to go on trial Jan. 24 on charges of first-degree negligent homicide, tampering with physical evidence and making a false report to law enforcement; however, Fujino suspended proceedings following a motion by attorney Brian De Lima for the exam. The state did not object to the motion.
Buddemeyer pleaded not guilty plea in October after being indicted on the three charges in connection with the fatal March 1, 2015, crash that killed Jeffrey Surnow, a 69-year-old visitor from Michigan. Police said after the crash that Buddemeyer was traveling eastbound in a subsidized patrol car and on duty when his vehicle struck and killed Surnow as the Michigan man rode his bicycle eastbound up Waikoloa Road that morning. The collision, which Buddemeyer reported at 6:25 a.m., occurred near mile marker 11.
First responders with the Hawaii Fire Department initially reported the incident as a hit-and-run after Surnow was found lying face down near a “severely damaged” bicycle on the road’s shoulder. They noted he died prior to their arrival.
Buddemeyer was subsequently arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide and released pending further investigation.
He was placed on administrative leave pending investigation. A police misconduct report presented to the Hawaii County Police Commission in February 2016, which does not include names because of state law, said an officer was terminated in 2015 for tampering with the scene after being involved in a traffic fatality. Buddemeyer is no longer on the department’s sworn personnel list.
Meanwhile, the Police Commission on Feb. 17 postponed a decision about whether taxpayers should foot the bill for Buddemeyer’s defense. The commission plans to take up the issue again at its March 17 meeting at the West Hawaii Civic Center.
State law requires the county to pay for representation for officers prosecuted for a crime or sued in a civil action for acts done in the performance of the officer’s duty. But it also gives police commissions authority to determine whether the act was done “in the performance of the police officer’s duty.”
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.
