KEALAKEKUA — A former Hawaii County police officer faces up to a year in jail after jurors on Friday found him guilty of misdemeanor negligent homicide in the death of a bicyclist more than three years ago.
The jury returned the verdict in the trial of former officer Jody Buddemeyer, finding him guilty of third-degree negligent homicide, a lesser included offense, after deliberating on the case for nearly six hours following closing arguments Friday. The officer was facing a charge of first-degree negligent homicide, a Class B felony.
They also found Buddemeyer not guilty of evidence tampering and false reporting to law enforcement.
“I do appreciate the jury’s decision,” said Deputy Prosecutor Kauanoe Jackson on Friday evening. “The state understands it was a difficult case and believes the jury did their best with the evidence presented.”
Buddemeyer declined to comment after the verdict. His attorney, Brian De Lima, spoke on his behalf.
“We appreciate the hard work of the jury in looking at the evidence and applying the law and respect their decision,” he said.
Buddemeyer faces up to one year of incarceration and a maximum fine of $2,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 30.
Jackson told Kona Circuit Court Judge Melvin Fujino on Friday evening that the family of Jeffrey Surnow, the Michigan man killed in a 2015 collision on Waikoloa Road, would like to provide input on the sentencing.
Charges stemmed from a collision March 1, 2015, when Buddemeyer fatally struck Surnow from behind while traveling east in his police subsidized vehicle on Waikoloa Road. The prosecution asserted throughout the trial that the former officer falsely reported the crash when he called it into dispatch as a hit-and-run.
Jackson argued Buddemeyer “methodically and thoughtfully” concealed broken car parts in his vehicle and misled fellow officers who responded to the scene by telling them he had hit a pig.
De Lima asserted Buddemeyer was fatigued at the time of the collision because of working a double-back shift. He questioned court-appointed doctors who indicated the former officer suffered from acute stress upon seeing Surnow’s body, which led to him behaving in a dissociative state.
Email Tiffany DeMasters at tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com.
