The man accused of killing a fellow prisoner at Oahu Community Correctional Center has a history of mental illness and of refusing to take his medication, according to state court records.
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Joseph Tui Jr., 32, with first-degree murder in Saturday’s beating death of Cyrl Chung in an OCCC cell.
The charge carries a mandatory life prison term without the possibility of parole, the state’s harshest penalty, because the killing happened while Tui was imprisoned.
An autopsy determined Chung, 76, died of head injuries caused by blunt force trauma.
State Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said Tui and Chung were placed together in a special holding unit intended for just one inmate because of overcrowding. Tui was in the holding unit for threatening a staff member, and Chung was there for cigarette possession, Sakai said.
Tui was being held in OCCC on a harassment charge. Chung had been there awaiting trial for robbery since February 2011.
In October 2002 a state judge found Tui mentally unfit to stand trial for burglary, misdemeanor sexual assault and trespass, and ordered Tui to the Hawaii State Hospital for treatment after three mental health experts had examined Tui. The state said Tui broke into a woman’s home and fondled her while she was in bed.
The state Health Department later asked the judge for permission to involuntarily medicate Tui because he refused to take his medication.
During a January 2003 hearing on the health director’s request, Tui said he didn’t want to take his medication, tried to fire his attorney — a public defender — and became violent, according to the court record. The judge requested additional sheriff deputies, ordered them to keep Tui in cuffs and ordered others to keep their distance. The judge also granted the health director’s request.
In November 2003 the judge found Tui mentally fit to stand trial after another examination by the three mental health experts and ordered Tui transferred back to OCCC.
Tui pleaded no contest in March 2004 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison, including time he had already served awaiting trial.
In May 2009 the state Department of Public Safety asked the court for permission to involuntarily medicate Tui but later withdrew the request.
According to a lawsuit Tui filed against the department and three prison guards, Tui said the guards beat him on June 16, 2009, after he demanded they give him a mattress. He was in an isolation cell on suicide watch in Halawa Correctional Facility’s medical unit at the time.
The department renewed its request for permission to involuntarily medicate Tui in July 2009. That request was denied.
Tui completed his prison sentence May 30, 2012.
Police arrested him Aug. 17 for harassment and misdemeanor sexual assault after a nurse at the Queen’s Medical Center reported that Tui exposed his genitals and masturbated in front of her and an 80-year-old female patient. Tui was a patient in the hospital’s mental health ward at the time.
The nurse said in her written statement to police that when she tried to close a door on Tui, he became mad, approached her and said, "I’m going to gangsta on you, I’m in Bloods and Crips."
Tui was released from custody Aug. 31 after posting $2,000 bail.
A state judge ordered a mental health expert to examine Tui on his mental fitness to stand trial on Nov. 7. The expert later reported that he couldn’t complete his examination because he didn’t know where Tui was.
Tui was taken into custody Jan. 14 for another harassment case.
