At one point during the interrogation, the investigators even threatened to have his pet Labrador Retriever, Margosha, euthanized as a stray, and brought the dog into the room so he could say goodbye. “OK? Your dog’s now gone, forget about it,” said an investigator.
Finally, after curling up with the dog on the floor, Perez broke down and confessed. He said he had stabbed his father multiple times with a pair of scissors during an altercation in which his father hit Perez over the head with a beer bottle.
Perez’s father wasn’t dead — or even missing. Thomas Sr. was at Los Angeles International Airport waiting for a flight to see his daughter in Northern California. But police didn’t immediately tell Perez.
There wasn’t even a crime and they got a confession.
This should make every confession they’ve ever received inadmissible.
they generally aren’t. Unless related information is proven, for example the location of the body.
From my understanding these types of cases are usually hit with a plea deal, which would somewhat nullify this factor of it, though it’s still fucked up.
But how can it nullify a plea deal that was met because of all the “proof” they had from a tortured confession? If I knew it was fake but could stop the torture sooner I’d immediately confess and plea for less time if I’m having to serve it anyways.
because a plea deal is literally defined as “admitting to the crime regardless of whether or not you did it, in exchange for lighter sentencing” which is often done in cases where the burden of proof is too difficult and can cause problems.
Still doesn’t make it a just case here, but that’s just how plea deals work. Regardless you could still sue the state to appeal, you have these options, and people have exercised them before, and they will continue to exercise them into the future.
These cops will never testify in a case again without being asked about this.
Anyone who works for that police department should get asked about it when testifying. That kind of behaviour doesn’t come out of thin air. It’ll be a product of organisational culture and will be systemic.