Federal jury awards $7M to woman assaulted In court cellblock In Hawaii

Honolulu, HAWAII — A federal jury awarded $7 million in damages to a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a deputy sheriff in a First Circuit Court cellblock in Honolulu in 2014.

Elizabeth Mueller was in HOPE probation, a drug probation program, when she alleges she was assaulted during an illegal strip search by Freddie Carabbacan, a deputy sheriff who was sergeant of the courthouse cellblock at the time.

Mueller sued the state Department of Public Safety, its former director Nolan Espinda, and Carabbacan in 2017.