Morrison Mahoney Partners Bill Scarpelli and Joe Caffrey recently secured summary judgment in a very high exposure wrongful conviction lawsuit filed against our client. The genesis of the lawsuit dates back to a 1979 murder and rape of an elderly widow in her apartment. Although police initially suspected a friend of one of the building tenants as the killer, in 1981 the case took a turn when Plaintiff’s brother confessed to the murder to police. The brother did not implicate Plaintiff in the murder during his confession, but did so later that same day when questioned by police.
Both Plaintiff and his brother were convicted of murder in separate trials held in the early 1980s. The brother died while incarcerated, and Plaintiff remained in prison for 35 years until being exonerated in 2019 through DNA testing of the victim’s nightgown. DNA testing allegedly matched 100% to the original suspect, now deceased.
Claimant demanded 8 figures from the defendants for his false imprisonment. A Massachusetts Erroneous Conviction claim against the Commonwealth was settled in return for a release, but did not protect our client.
Our client’s principal defense argument was that the murder investigation was coordinated, directed and controlled by the State, consistent with a state statute which provides that murder investigations, except for several large municipalities, are to be conducted by District Attorneys in conjunction with the State Police, and not local police.
Due to the significant passage of time from 1979 to the lawsuit’s filing in 2022, Bill and Joe expended significant time tracking down retired law enforcement officials to gather evidence to prove that our client did not coordinate, direct or control the investigation, identification, arrest, prosecution, or conviction of Plaintiff. Only a single state police investigator and county prosecutor had survived the passage of 45 years since the murder to provide testimonial support for our client’s defenses. Bill prepared a voluminous summary judgment motion with supporting police investigative documents and witness statements, court testimony from two murder trials, and affidavits to established that our client and its police officers had not violated Plaintiff’s federal and state constitutional rights, or caused his resulting lengthy incarceration.
