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Huge Award in False Confessions Case

By Jeralyn, Section Misconduct
Posted on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 07:25:19 AM EST
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Keith Longtin spent 8 months in jail after police interrogated him for 38 hours and got him to falsely confess to murdering his wife. A Prince George County, Va MD. jury has awarded him $6.8 million in damages.

Longtin, now 50, was released from jail only after DNA evidence found in his slain wife was matched with a serial rapist. The sexual offender was later convicted of the murder.

The Circuit Court jury awarded $5.2 million in compensatory damages to Longtin. It also leveled punitive damages of nearly $1.2 million against four county homicide detectives -- one of whom is retired -- who, the jury found, violated Longtin's civil rights.

Several such cases have come to light about improper conduct by the Prince George County detectives.

In the fiscal year that ended in June, Prince George's paid more than $4.6 million in jury verdicts and settlements involving alleged abuse by county police....Longtin's experience was chronicled in a series of articles in The Washington Post in 2001 examining how county homicide detectives coerced false confessions from innocent people after unlawfully subjecting them to marathon interrogations, depriving them of sleep and refusing to let them speak to their lawyers.

County homicide detectives coerced false confessions from at least three other men in addition to Longtin, the articles said.

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    • Huge Award in False Confessions Case | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#1)
    by Al on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 08:50:27 AM EST
    This leads me to wonder how valid is the information obtained under duress from detainees at places like Guantanamo. If you can get a man to confess to murdering his own wife, obviously you can get anyone to confess to anything you want.

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#2)
    by scribe on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 08:50:27 AM EST
    Good. The plaintiff should take his judgment against these swine and start to enforce it - take their houses. BTW - Prince Georges County is in Maryland, not Virginia.

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 08:50:27 AM EST
    This catches the eye somewhat.
    At the urging of a county police sex crimes detective, authorities tested the DNA found inside Zinetti's body. It matched the genetic material of a serial rapist.
    Dontcha just love the morals and ethics of the serve and protect crowd. That there is still a killer out there, not a problem, keeps the boys in a job.

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 08:50:27 AM EST
    Are these people not subject to criminal charges? If not, is it because there aren't any laws they've technically broken, because there's not enough evidence or because the DA doesn't have the stomach for it?

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#5)
    by Che's Lounge on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 09:41:58 AM EST
    This may sound stupid but I don't care. I light of the amount, I would like to know.. Is he white?

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#6)
    by roy on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 09:54:47 AM EST
    Is he white?
    Yep. So was his wife.

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#7)
    by Che's Lounge on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 10:03:50 AM EST
    Racist Amerika. Point made.

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#8)
    by Steven Sanderson on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 01:23:12 PM EST
    Not all defendents who plead guilty are guilty. Should courts be required to appoint counsel to help those who've pled guilty get through the appeals process? Michigan enacted a law which said no. In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that law, however a local judge decided that the Supremes were wrong so he's been defying them since. Yesterday the Michigan Court of Appeals told him that he couldn't trump the Supremes and ordered him, and all other state judges, to appoint attorneys to help criminal defendents (who've pled guilty) with their appeals.

    Re: Huge Award in False Confessions Case (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 04:36:36 PM EST
    prince george's county is in md, king george county is in va. same guy, actually. prince george's county police have been notorious, for as long as i can remember (and i've lived in this area most of my 50 years) as among the most corrupt and venal of local area police forces. the judges, DA's and citizenry live in fear of them, they've become almost a law unto themselves. interestingly, their union is among the most powerful politically in the country. they'll not hesitate to "threaten" anyone who even thinks of challenging them. they actually tried to gut the whole force, and start over from scratch. it didn't work. the ethic is so deeply embedded, you'd have to clear out every local politician to get at the roots. those in power are not going to let that happen.

    Huge Award in False Confessions Case | 9 comments (9 topical)