KAILUA-KONA — A wrongful death lawsuit against a former Hawaii County police officer is moving forward, with a trial scheduled for June in federal court.
On Tuesday, counsels for the defense and plaintiffs met in U.S. District Court in Honolulu for a status conference. According to the minutes, depositions and mediation were set for April 4, 2019. The trial is scheduled for June 25, 2019, before Chief Judge J. Michael Seabright.
Mark Davis, counsel for plaintiffs Elaine Surnow and her children, Max, Sam and Lisa, said the suit lies within federal jurisdiction because his clients are not residents of Hawaii. The family is suing former police officer Jody Buddemeyer, Hawaii County and the Hawaii Police Department for the wrongful death of husband and father, Jeffrey Surnow, 69, of Michigan after he was fatally struck by the former officer while riding a bicycle March 1, 2015, on Waikoloa Road.
While no settlements have been discussed at this point, Davis said, they are “gearing up for trial.”
Davis said the Surnow family was devastated by the tragedy.
“He was an extraordinary philanthropic person,” Davis said Tuesday about Surnow. “He championed charitable causes.”
Buddemeyer was criminally charged in October 2016 in Kona Circuit Court in connection with the crash.
During trial this October, evidence presented showed Buddemeyer struck Surnow from behind while traveling east on Waikoloa Road in his police subsidized vehicle. 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.
Jurors acquitted the former officer of evidence tampering and false reporting and found him guilty of negligent homicide in a lesser offense.
In November, Kona Circuit Judge Melvin Fujino sentenced Buddemeyer to one year probation. Special conditions include that he will be committed to the Department of Public Safety, where he will be monitored for 60 days via electronic monitoring.
Buddemeyer will again appear in court Dec. 28 to determine whether he plans to appeal the sentence.
The federal civil suit was filed in January 2017. The movement on the case was slow because lawyers were awaiting the outcome of the criminal trial.
On Tuesday, Steven Chow, counsel for the county and police department, said while they are talking about doing mediation, they are waiting for the criminal appeal period to expire, which is 30 days after sentencing.
Davis said he hopes and expects to have this case resolved by trial.
“His death should’ve never occurred. His death was completely avoidable,” Davis said about Surnow. “It’s a tragedy every way we look at it.”
Attempts to reach Leslie R. Kop, counsel for Buddemeyer, for comment were unsuccessful by press time.
Email Tiffany DeMasters at tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com.
