Did a little teenage girl brutally hack a homeless man to death, mutilate his corpse, then transport it for disposal from one side of Las Vegas to the other while on a methamphetamine bender, leaving no physical evidence of her presence and being seen by no witnesses? If the answer "no" seems obvious, it took Kirstin Lobato decades to prove it. A Las Vegas jury has now awarded Lobato, now 41, $34m for her trouble. She was jailed for 16 years for murder after police—two detectives, both now retired—fabricated evidence against her.
The civil trial jury found Las Vegas police and two detectives, now retired, fabricated evidence during their investigation and intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon Lobato. The panel determined that Lobato should receive $34 million in compensatory damages from the department and $10,000 in punitive damages from each former detective.
No serious punishment whatsoever for the police who falsely imprisoned her for 16 years: the citizens of Vegas will cover the tab except for just $10,000 each.
The detectives, Thomas Thowsen and James LaRochelle, and their attorney, Craig Anderson, declined to comment outside court. Anderson told US District Judge Richard Boulware he planned to file additional court documents following the verdict. Anderson said Friday an appeal was "likely." The department previously agreed to pay damages if the jury ruled in Lobato's favor. Lobato was 18 when she was interviewed by police without an attorney, arrested and charged with killing Duran Bailey in Las Vegas in July 2001. Bailey, who had been homeless, was found dead near a trash bin with a slashed neck, cracked skull and missing genitals.
The case and conviction was based on one truth—Lobato told friends she fended off a rapist with a knife—and a lie—a claim that she confessed. No recording, no signed statement, no physical evidence, no witnesses. The amazing part? She got to this point once before and they convicted her again on the same "evidence."
The Nevada Supreme Court threw out that verdict and Lobato's prison sentence in 2004 because her lawyers weren't able to cross-examine a prosecution witness who testified that Lobato made the jailhouse confession. Lobato was tried again in 2006, convicted of manslaughter, mutilation and weapon charges, and sentenced to 13 to 45 years in prison.
The most peculiar part of the supposed crime is that it required a teenage girl to transport an extremely large corpse from one side of the city to the other. She was eventually exonerated for good after being able to show she was 150 miles from the scene of the crime when it happened. A judge felt it necessary to issue a certificate of innocence to prevent prosecutors from starting over—and the Clark County sheriff and district attorney had the audacity to complain about it.
At Wikipedia, The Trials of Kirstin Lobato makes for fascinating reading. It reads a lot like her exoneration ultimately hinged on getting rid of a crooked judge.
Retired FBI agent Steve Moore, noted for his advocacy on behalf of Amanda Knox, has referred to the case documents in the Lobato case as, "…complete and utter bullshit." After having been charged with misconduct and publicly reprimanded by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, Judge Vega, the judge in both of Lobato's trials, did not run for re-election in 2014 and stepped down from the bench in January 2015.
Previously:
• $650k settlement for black man stomped on by South Carolina cop
• Army veteran paralyzed in police beating wins $20m settlement from Yuba City
• L.A.'s fiscal nightmare: Police misconduct lawsuit payouts push city to the brink
• Cop who refused to honor the 'get out of jail' cards that NYPD officers sell wins $175k settlement after retaliation