Appeals Court Upholds $101.7 Million Verdict Against FBI

By Jeralyn, Section Innocence Cases
Posted on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 12:03:02 PM EST
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The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an award of $101.7 million against the FBI for framing four men in a gangland slaying. One man served 33 years in prison, another 29 years and the other two died in prison. The verdict was initially entered by U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner following a 22 day bench trial.

Judge Gertner found the FBI not only withheld exculpatory evidence, it continued to hide it for decades after the trial. The award is to the families of Peter J. Limone, Joseph Salvati, Louis Greco, and Henry Tameleo. The appeals court wrote (opinion here):

“But when we take into account the severe emotional trauma inflicted upon the scapegoats...we cannot say with any firm conviction that those awards are grossly disproportionate to the injuries sustained.’’

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Appeals Court Upholds $101.7 Million Verdict Against FBI | 12 comments (12 topical)

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FBI, CIA, the cop on the beat, (none / 0) (#1)
by oldpro on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 12:24:57 PM EST

the local sheriff...when 'the good guys' are the bad guys, we are lost and the words 'law enforcement' have no meaning. It is the worst kind of corruption.

So, other than the financial award, what happened to those FBI officials? Are they in jail?

If not, why not?

The Statute of Limitations, probably. (none / 0) (#7)
by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 04:45:49 PM EST

Public corruption, that rancid spawn of the ncestuous relationships between private interests and public officialdom, is as old as government itself. And as bad as we think it is now, the current climate is still vastly improved over what occurred in this country in throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

On that subject, one recent book I highly recommend is Richard Rayner's A Bright and Guilty Place, a well-written and fascinating account which discusses the cesspool that was Republican-ruled Los Angeles in the 1920s and '30s, and how its seamier elements and sordid episodes became the foundation of the unique literary and film genres that became known collectively as "noir."

This, of course, is both the period and setting for such memorable Hollywood classics such as Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity and Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep, of which Rayner noted the respective storylines most always shared a remarkable underlying basis in actual fact and real events.

[ Parent ]

Thanks, Donald. Always (none / 0) (#9)
by oldpro on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 07:01:08 PM EST

interesting to get your perspective.

As I was reading your second paragraph, I immediately thought of "Chinatown"...a terrific movie which I recently saw a second time.

Yes, corruption is relative, I'll grant you that, but it seems to me the country is going in the wrong direction and retrogressing. That doesn't bode well for progressives who tend to want progress and tolerate backsliding rather badly...as do I.

[ Parent ]

: Like you said, corruption is relative. (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 08:03:21 PM EST

I think it would surprise more than a few people that the greatest public corruption scandal per capita in U.S. history was not Watergate or Teapot Dome or even the recent Wall Street insider shenanigans, but rather the infamous Crédit Mobilier Affair of the eraly 1870s.
That scandal's primary participants -led by U.S. Rep. Oake Ames (R-MA) and the board of Union Pacific Railroad - had used a pattern of fraudulent invoicing to systematically separate the U.S. Treasury from nearly 20% of its cash assets during the period 1868-72, which upon its discovery plunged this country into a major economic depression and also sealed the reputation of President Ulysses Grant's administration as one of gross incompetence on a grand scale.
This not to excuse today's privateers and pirates of their own gross misdeeds and misconduct, but it does serve to place our current predicaments in a proper historical perspective, and perhaps it can even help us find potential solutions to today's problems by perusing our own past.
Aloha, and mahalo for the kind compliment.

[ Parent ]

Wow Bench trial Unusual (none / 0) (#2)
by oculus on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 12:37:09 PM EST

Decision for a plaintiff's counsel in a federal civil rights lawsuit. Good gamble though.

: The lawyer was (none / 0) (#12)
by Peter G on Mon Aug 31, 2009 at 02:44:06 PM EST

Professor Michael Avery, of Suffolk Law School in Boston -- co-author of the leading treatise on Police Misconduct Litigation, is the winning attorney. The trial judge was the courageous and independent Nancy Gertner, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

[ Parent ]

So what do we pay... (none / 0) (#3)
by Dadler on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 12:46:54 PM EST

...the families of those innocents we've actually executed? Like Cameron Todd Willingham, just recently murdered by the state of Texas.

Hopefully enough to absolutely physically bankrupt the corrupt process that put them to death.

you want to bankrupt the justice system (none / 0) (#4)
by The Last Whimzy on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 12:48:34 PM EST

sure. why not? my life seems unimproved by its inclusion.

[ Parent ]

: Forget unimproved.... (none / 0) (#11)
by kdog on Mon Aug 31, 2009 at 10:19:41 AM EST

downright endangered....I'll do a jig the day law & order goes bankrupt.

[ Parent ]

Large settlements (none / 0) (#5)
by The Last Whimzy on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 12:53:22 PM EST

sometimes i think it rubs people the wrong way.

although in this case, it appears justified, one of the things i always try to tell people is that without a large award, the guilty party almost walks away encouraged to do it again.

if they really witheld evidence, why isn't it ever considered just tossing the FBI agents responsible in jail too?

now THAT would be a deterrent.

the fbi shouldn't worry, (none / 0) (#6)
by cpinva on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 01:54:22 PM EST

no doubt the USSC will reduce that judgement to something more "reasonable", say a couple of grand per "scapegoat". after all, actual innocence is no bar to punishment.

because,

if they did, the fbi would never be able to find anyone to work for them, ever, again. at least, that's what all police agencies would have us believe.

"badges? we don't need no stinkin' badges!"

ick. (none / 0) (#8)
by coigue on Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 05:26:45 PM EST