Four men wrongfully convicted of murder, false testimony from a hit man informant for the Feebs, the real killer protected, the 1965 convictions overturned now, and the largest penalty ever ruled.
Sounds like a blockbuster thriller. Great piece of fiction from some major writer -- only it's a true story that just unfolded.
Read on ...
http://www.nytimes.com/...
$101.8 million for wrongful conviction of four men for a murder they didn't commit. The chief witness against them was an FBI informant, a criminal -- who was protecting the real killer.
The real crime here was by J. Edgar Hoover's tough on crime FBI and the rot went right up the line from field agents. No one cared about four innocent men because their informant "helped them solve other crimes" -- yeah sure, probably by the same method.
"Judge Gertner forcefully criticized the argument by Justice Department lawyers that federal authorities were not required to share information with state prosecutors and were not responsible for the results of a state prosecution."
The four men were convicted in 1965 so we can't blame this one on Gonzo.
Consistency is supposed to be a virtue but the CYA approach to misfeasance and malfeasance revealed does nothing to reassure the public that justice in America has not been in disrepair for a long time. Obviously, the first problem with a case like this is the Feebs.
A layer representing one of the four men has done pro bono work for 30 years to assist in righting this wrong. And the current Justice Department argues about it? Color me unimpressed.
This is the largest damage case ever awarded. Wonder what Gonzo would have to say about it?
Or a story today: "The FBI concluded that the actions of the rookie agent amounted to "intelligence activities that . . . may be unlawful or contrary to executive order or presidential directive," according to a declassified memo from Oct. 21, 2004."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
He "didn't recall" that one either.