Joseph, Greenwald & Laake Partners Timothy F. Maloney, Steven B. Vinick and Cary J. Hansel Achieve the Largest Verdict in History Involving Abuse by the Prince George's County Police.
Timothy F. Maloney, Steven B. Vinick and Cary J. Hansel recently achieved a verdict the Washington Post called "the largest made by a jury in a civil case involving abuse by Prince George's County police."
A Prince George's County jury awarded $6.375 Million to Joseph, Greenwald & Laake client Keith Longtin after finding that his constitutional rights were violated. The award includes $1.175 million in punitive damages and $5.2 million in compensatory damages. The jury found not only that Mr. Longtin's rights were violated, but that the County has a pattern and practice of violating civil liberties.
The jury found that Mr. Longtin was falsely imprisoned for the 1999 rape and murder of his wife, a crime he did not commit. The police had no eyewitnesses and no physical evidence against Longtin. Moreover, DNA evidence later cleared Mr. Longtin and another man was subsequently convicted of these crimes after the real perpetrator's DNA was recovered from the body of the victim.
In trial testimony, Mr. Longtin detailed how he was threatened, denied sleep, denied sufficient food and denied his right to counsel by the Prince George's County police during an interrogation lasting more than 38 hours. During their attempt to prosecute Mr. Longtin, the police made statements under oath that their own expert witness called "inaccurate" and a "misrepresentation" under cross examination by Steve Vinick. Mr. Vinick examined a number of witnesses at trial, including Mr. Longtin and the experts retained by the firm and the County.
Tim Maloney, who delivered the opening argument and also examined a number of witnesses at trial, was quoted in the Washington Post as stating that, "We hope this signals the end of lengthy, coercive police interrogations in Prince George's County."
In his closing argument, Cary Hansel observed that the Constitution is only a piece of paper without a jury to fashion it into a shield protecting members of our community from those who would violate our rights. In addition to delivering the closing argument for Mr. Longtin, Mr. Hansel cross-examined a number of witnesses, including the four police defendants, all from the County's Homicide Squad.
The Joseph, Greenwald and Laake trial team join Keith Longtin in his call for the videotaping of all interviews or interrogations conducted by the Prince George's County Police. This will prevent any abuses and allow the police to demonstrate when confessions are properly obtained. At a press conference following the verdict, Mr. Hansel asked, "What objection could there be to videotaping a confession? Then they will have the best evidence that they could possibly have of the confession - that it took place and that it was above board." The County has not responded to the call to videotape all interviews and interrogations.
