A man spent almost three years locked in a psychiatric hospital in case of mistaken identity

Joshua Spriestersbach lived with schizophrenia, yet was a quiet, caring man who never hurt anyone. He spent time in jail on petty, non-violent charges, and on a few occasions, spent time at the Hawaii State Hospital, HSH. He often spoke about microwaves controlling him and told anyone who’d listen how the CIA was after him because of his computer hacking skills.

Joshua lived on the streets of Honolulu for more than a dozen years, alone without friends or family, although he wanted it that way. Joshua often used false identities to make it hard to track him down. This explains why he lost contact with his mother and sister around the same time his troubles began.

Arrested in a Case of Mistaken Identity

One beautiful day in March 2017, then 46-year-old Joshua stood in line waiting for food at the River of Life Mission in Honolulu. Joshua was a regular at the center, as were many of the island’s chronically homeless. As he stood in line, Joshua sat down on the sidewalk. That’s against the ordinance on Oahu. Joshua then fell asleep for a few seconds when he was awakened by officers tapping him on the shoulder. They placed Joshua in handcuffs and hauled him off to jail.

Joshua had given police and officials different aliases and false identities in the past, though usually when he was unmedicated and dealing with psychosis. One of those names was General Castleberry. He often used the name when he experienced delusions. He knew his birth name was Joshua, and his social security number. Yet, police charged him with violation of probation after finding a warrant for a man named Thomas Castleberry.

Despite Joshua’s insistence that he was not Thomas Castleberry, jailers did not believe him, nor did they check his fingerprints or mugshot photos, either of which could’ve proven who he was. At his first court appearance for Castleberry’s charges, Joshua was given a public defender to whom he immediately explained that the police had the wrong man. The public defender requested that his client be given a three-panel doctor competency evaluation.

After four months in county jail, Joshua was transported to the Hawaii State Hospital. Staff did not believe him when he said his name was Joshua. They, too, were convinced that he was Thomas Castleberry and opened that man's chart.

They told Joshua he’d need drug classes since he had been charged with cocaine possession. Joshua insisted he had never used drugs in his life and had never been on probation. He again provided staff with his full name, date of birth, and social security number. They ignored the information and determined that Joshua was delusional. Days later, the three-panel board determined Joshua was “unfit to stand trial” and ordered him to be held at the facility.

Weeks Turn Into Months

Weeks turned into months. Joshua grew more hopeless by the day. Staff at the facility insisted he was Thomas Castleberry while he insisted he was not. He was ordered to take antipsychotic medications. They labeled him as "potentially dangerous" and declared him unfit to stand trial.

Meanwhile, the real Thomas Castleberry sat in a prison in Alaska, thousands of miles away from the islands. He left Hawaii years before, got into trouble, and landed himself a six-year prison term.

Doctors determined Joshua was "unfit to stand trial" two additional times after he refused to 'admit' his name was actually Thomas Castleberry. The more denials, the more staff declared him delusional. He was given anti-psychotics and medications.

Something is Off

By 2019, Joshua was a shell of his former self. He drooled at the mouth, could barely speak, and always felt out of his mind. He did open up to Dr. Garret during their sessions, discussing his past and how he’d been in a mental facility in California before relocating to Hawaii with his sister about 12 years earlier.

Dr. Garret listened to Joshua. She felt something was off about the situation and investigated the matter. She looked up mugshots of Joshua and of Thomas, immediately recognizing that while the two looked similar, they were different people. Not to mention that Joshua was locked up in a mental health facility on the date Thomas's mugshot was taken.

Dr. Garrett requested fingerprints and other identifying information from Joshua. On Jan. 15, 2020, after more than two years at the hospital, administrators learned the man was not Thomas Castleberry. His name was Joshua Sprierbach. He had been telling the truth all along. Joshua was immediately released from the facility.

Joshua Goes Home

Joshua spent the next two months as he had done for the past dozen years: on the streets of Oahu begging for money and eating at homeless shelters. He did plenty of thinking this time. One day in late March, he called his mom. She had waited for the call for so long. She agreed to pick up Joshua and allow him to live in her home. Joshua's sister also lived in the home. He relocated to Albany, New York.

After explaining to his sister about his two years inside a mental hospital, Joshua began to rebuild their relationship and himself. Joshua’s sister connected him with a mental health provider in Vermont.

With help from the Hawaii Innocence Project and his sister, Joshua filed a lawsuit against the Police Department, the public defender’s office, and the Hawaii State Hospital, any of whom could’ve checked Joshua’s fingerprints or mugshots but failed to do so. The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice.