Wrongfully Convicted Men Awarded $101M

(AP)  A federal judge Thursday ordered the government to pay more than $101 million in the case of four men who spent decades in prison for a 1965 murder they did not commit after the FBI withheld evidence of their innocence.

The judge called the government's defense that the FBI had no duty to get involved because it was a state case "absurd."

Peter Limone, Joseph Salvati and the families of the two other men who died in prison had sued the federal government for malicious prosecution.

They argued Boston FBI agents knew mob hitman Joseph "The Animal" Barboza lied when he named them as killers in the 1965 death of Edward Deegan. They said Barboza was protecting a fellow FBI informant, Vincent "Jimmy" Flemmi, who was involved.

The government argued that federal authorities had no duty to share information with state officials who prosecuted Limone, Salvati, Henry Tameleo and Louis Greco. Federal authorities cannot be held responsible for the results of a state prosecution, a Justice Department lawyer argued.

The men's lawyers said the four were treated as "acceptable collateral damage" in the FBI's priority at the time — taking down the Mafia through the use of criminal informants.

"It took 30 years to uncover this injustice, and the government's position is, in a word, absurd," U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said Thursday.

"No lost liberty is dispensable," she told the packed courtroom. "We have fought wars over this principle. We are still fighting these wars."

Salvati and Limone were exonerated in 2001 after FBI memos dating back to the Deegan case surfaced, showing the men had been framed by Barboza. The memos were made public during a Justice Department task force probe of the FBI's relationship with gangsters and FBI informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi.

The attorneys for the four wrongfully convicted men had not asked for a specific amount in damages, but in court documents they cited other wrongful conviction cases in which $1 million was awarded for every year of imprisonment.

[toolmangler-2009]

but where is the $101 million coming from? Why should the citizens of the U.S. have to pay for the negligence of the same people who are there and supposed to protect us?
Posted by snixchance at 05:51 PM : Jul 26, 2007


If it doesn't cost the FBI, CIA, NSA and other Gvmt agencies anything, they have no incentive to do the job so that innocents are not wrongly imprisoned. The taxpayer is the one that pays for sloppy work and damages awards. I am sending in another 2 bits, don't blow this one.

[linfinster]

snix, since you think they had it so good, why don't you go commit some dumb crime and sit and rot in the comfort of a jail cell.
What an idiot.

I wonder what these guys the mob fingered did that they were known to mob anyway???! Perhaps they killed others and got away with it? Don't know the whole story, of course.

I wonder what the lawyers get, then the US Government and then they split the difference? That will probably be decent enough, maybe that's why the Judge made it so high?

[toolmangler-2009]

The FBI solution to suspects, "Kill 'em all and let GOD sort it out"

[snixchance]

I agree so far with all of the postings, but where is the $101 million coming from? Why should the citizens of the U.S. have to pay for the negligence of the same people who are there and supposed to protect us? What is 30 years worth to a life? To me, I'm sorry the guys went through that, but they had three square meals a day, a roof over their heads, the best medical treatment that people are literally commiting crimes to get into jail so they can get much needed healthcare. I just feel that $101 million is very excessive and besides, the government will take back more than half of that anyway in taxes!

[rillifane]

Generally speaking you don't have a duty to come forward just because you know something that government prosecutors or defense lawyers would like to know.

A failure to volunteer information is NOT obstruction of justice and you are not in anyway legally responsible for your decision not to volunteer information.

The argument made by the FBI was entirely consistent with existing law and this judge's pronouncing it "absurd" doesn't make it so.

[inmo-2009]

This sure does not speak well of our justice system, especially of the FBI? Who is supposed to be polcing our police? Whomever it is - if anyone or agency needs to step it up. People should not have to pay for crimes they did not commit, especially when the FBI holds the ticket to their freedom in their hands.

[cepe10-2009]

sounds like the definition of "Obstruction of Justice" to me. Everyone involved who said that the FBI had no duty to report this injustice should be facing criminal charges. Apparently, prosecutors and law enforcement officers do not police their own. again...

[weareone2]

What's wrong with the FBI? These are people who are supposed to be protecting us. At least there is a judge who's rational. And who are the individuals who made the depraved argument "the FBI had no duty to get involved because it was a state case". "The government" can't do anything. It's people who make decisions.