PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "Confidential, often jailhouse informants, have probably been around for as long as there have been jails and inmates willing to trade information for a favor or two — including more privileges, a shorter sentence or dropping of charges. They commonly turn up in investigations which are not going anywhere - as in ‘no DNA'. “Incentivized informants” is the legal term of art, but too often they also have “a strong incentive to lie,” said Michelle Feldman, state campaigns director for the Innocence Project. That explains why, according to the project’s figures, 16 percent of DNA exonerations involved false testimony by informants.
Broader studies of wrongful convictions put the figure as high as 46 percent. Innocent people have spent decades in prison while the guilty remained free, and often the victims of those informants never see justice either — a lose-lose-lose for the criminal justice system.
Boston Globe Editorial: February 15, 2020.
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STORY: "No apology from agent in Salvati case," by Reporter Shelley Murphy, published by The Boston Globe on May 4, 2021.
SUB-HEADING: "But he acknowledges a man's innocence."
GIST: WASHINGTON - "After spending 30 years in prison for a murder that he didn't commit, Joseph Salvati received profuse apologies and promises of compensation from members of Congress yesterday, but not a word of remorse from the FBI agent who helped put him away.
"What do you want, tears?" sneered retired agent H. Paul Rico, 76, as he conceded during a congressional hearing that he now believes Salvati was framed by a vengeful hit man turned government witness for a 1965 gangland murder.
"I believe the FBI handled it properly," Rico said.
When asked by Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, if he cared that Salvati's wife, Marie, had to raise their four children alone because FBI reports authored by Rico that would have helped Salvati prove his innocence were never turned over to the defense, Rico replied, "It would probably be a nice movie or something, but I don't know.
"I do not know everything that Joe Salvati did in his life," said Rico. "I don't know if Joe Salvati is innocent of everything."
But after listening to the Salvatis and three defense lawyers testify yesterday, Rico said he now believes Salvati is not guilty of the murder that put him in prison for three decades. "I was not convinced he was innocent until today," said Rico.
The surprising testimony came as the House Committee on Government Reform launched its first day of hearings into the FBI's handling of controversial informants - including gangsters James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen Flemmi - in its quest to dismantle the Mafia. Rico testified against the advice of his lawyer, who advised him to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Rico is a prime target of a federal grand jury in Massachusetts that has been investigating wrongdoing by former FBI agents.
Salvati and his wife, who both gave an emotional account of their last three decades that was halted by tears, were clearly disgusted by Rico's testimony.
"He wouldn't apologize," Salvati said. "He abused his power and he ruined 30 years of my life. It took 34 years for him to say that I was innocent. He could have said that 34 years ago."
The committee chaired by Indiana Republican Dan Burton heard overwhelming evidence that hit man Joseph "The Animal" Barboza lied about who participated in the 1965 slaying of small-time hoodlum Edward "Teddy" Deegan in Chelsea, after striking a deal with the FBI to testify against local Mafiosi.
Called to testify were attorney Victor Garo, who spent 26 years trying to get Salvati's conviction overturned, and prominent criminal defense lawyers F. Lee Bailey, who once represented Barboza, and Joseph Balliro, who said one of Deegan's killers, Vincent Flemmi, had confessed to him.
"The FBI has a nest of ruthless, cold-blooded, psychopathic killers," said Bailey, noting that Bulger, Flemmi, and Flemmi's brother all allegedly killed people while working as informants.
"The federal government determined that it was more important for them to protect informants than it was for innocent people to be framed," said Garo. "The federal government determined that Joe Salvati's life was expendable."
Salvati was freed from prison in 1997 after Governor William Weld commuted his sentence amid mounting doubts about his guilt. In January, a state judge tossed out the convictions of Salvati and co-defendant Peter Limone after newly uncovered FBI documents suggested that the two men, and two others who died in prison, were wrongly convicted.
The reports revealed that two days before the slaying, informants told Rico that Deegan was going to be killed. After the murder, Rico's informants identified Barboza and four other men as the killers - and indicated that Barboza was lying about the involvement of Salvati, Limone, and the two other men.
Another FBI report revealed that Barboza's close friend, Vincent Flemmi, had been involved in the slaying, but Barboza was lying to protect him.
Flemmi, now dead, was the brother of Stephen Flemmi, a longtime FBI informant recruited by Rico in 1965.
Balliro, who represented one of Salvati's co-defendants, said the defense never had a chance because FBI agents took the stand and gave credibility to Barboza's account of the murder.
In a written statement to the committee, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh said, "These allegations that law enforcement personnel, including the FBI, `turned a blind eye' to exculpatory information and allowed an innocent man to serve 30 years of a life sentence are alarming and warrant thorough investigation."
Freeh said the FBI's role in the investigation of Deegan's murder that led to Salvati's conviction is being investigated by the same task force that led to the 1999 federal racketeering indictment of Bulger's handler, retired FBI agent John Connolly."
The entire story can be read at:
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2001/05/04/no_apology_from_agent_in_salvati_case/?s_campaign=bostonglobe:mobileapp&s_campaign=bostonglobe:mobileapp&theme=light&pathAuthJWT=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ1c2VySWQiOiI1MTU2NDI2IiwiYXV0aFRva2VuIjoiYTJiNzgwNmItY2NiYS00NzA2LWEwYjQtMmVkYTE1YTc5OWU4In0.Kt9PBPJUy0g2F9Pi_oRL8be8LayJoLV7ZUIk5JlArfk
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY:
National Registry of Exonerations: "
According to Barboza, the contract murder was ordered by Peter Limone, a bookie and nightclub manager, and carried out by Louis Greco. Henry Tameleo, a top mafia aide, supposedly sanctioned the crime, while several other people were also involved in the complex conspiracy. Barboza and Flemmi admitted that they, too, were involved, but because of their special relationship with the FBI, they were never prosecuted. Barboza testified before a grand jury on October 25, 1967, and six men were indicted for Deegan’s murder. All six defendants were tried at the same time. Based primarily on Barboza’s testimony, all six were convicted on July 31, 1968. Greco, Limone and Tameleo were sentenced to death. However, their sentences were reduced to life in prison in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, which invalidated all death sentences then pending in the United States. In the years following the convictions, important evidence came to light indicating the innocence of Limone, Greco, Tameleo and Joseph Salvati, who was convicted of being an accessory to murder and given a life sentence. Barboza signed an affidavit on July 28, 1970, stating that these four men were not involved in the murder. On April 9, 1976, a lawyer who had worked with Barboza signed an affidavit stating that Barboza had admitted to giving false testimony about Limone’s role in the crime. These were followed by other affidavits by witnesses and lawyers who said they had lied during trial or had known that Barboza gave false testimony. In 1976, Barboza was shot and killed in San Francisco, California."
Read the Registry of Exonerations entry for Joseph Salvati by Alexandra Gross (published before JUNE 12, 2012) at the link below: (Contributing causes: Perjury or false accusation, and official misconduct);
"On March 10, 1965, Boston-based FBI agents used a wiretap to eavesdrop on a conversation in which Vincent “Jimmy” Flemmi and Joseph “The Animal” Barboza requested permission from a New England mafia boss to kill Edward Deegan, a small-time criminal who had insulted mob members. The FBI was in the process of trying to recruit Flemmi as an informant and did nothing to prevent the murder. Deegan was killed on March 12; his body found that night in an alley in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He had been shot six times, and at least three different weapons had been used.
In conversations with FBI agents, Barboza and Flemmi named six people who had been involved in Deegan’s murder. According to Barboza, the contract murder was ordered by
Peter Limone, a bookie and nightclub manager, and carried out by
Louis Greco.
Henry Tameleo, a top mafia aide, supposedly sanctioned the crime, while several other people were also involved in the complex conspiracy. Barboza and Flemmi admitted that they, too, were involved, but because of their special relationship with the FBI, they were never prosecuted. Barboza testified before a grand jury on October 25, 1967, and six men were indicted for Deegan’s murder.
All six defendants were tried at the same time. Based primarily on Barboza’s testimony, all six were convicted on July 31, 1968. Greco, Limone and Tameleo were sentenced to death. However, their sentences were reduced to life in prison in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, which invalidated all death sentences then pending in the United States.
In the years following the convictions, important evidence came to light indicating the innocence of Limone, Greco, Tameleo and Joseph Salvati, who was convicted of being an accessory to murder and given a life sentence. Barboza signed an affidavit on July 28, 1970, stating that these four men were not involved in the murder. On April 9, 1976, a lawyer who had worked with Barboza signed an affidavit stating that Barboza had admitted to giving false testimony about Limone’s role in the crime. These were followed by other affidavits by witnesses and lawyers who said they had lied during trial or had known that Barboza gave false testimony. In 1976, Barboza was shot and killed in San Francisco, California.
Individually, the four men filed numerous appeals, but were repeatedly denied relief. Tameleo died in prison in 1985 and Greco in 1995. In the spring of 1997, Salvati’s sentence was commuted and he was released on parole.
In the summer and fall of 2000, a special prosecutor investigating the FBI’s use of informants came across numerous documents from 1965 demonstrating that agents knew Barboza and Flemmi had committed the murder without the involvement of Greco, Limone, Tameleo or Salvati – including reports made directly to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
In December of 2000, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge held a hearing to consider releasing Limone based on information in these memos, and on January 5, 2001, Limone was released. All charges against Limone and Salvati were dropped on January 31, 2001.
In 2003, the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform condemned the FBI for failing to turn over documents that would have exonerated Limone. The District Attorney’s Office that originally prosecuted the case posthumously dismissed charges against Louis Greco in 2004 and against Henry Tameleo in 2007.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner ordered the federal government to pay a total of $102 million. Salvati was awarded $29 million, Limone was awarded $26 million, and $47 million was awarded to the estates of Greco and Tameleo. This award was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 2009. In 2012, the Department of Justice dropped its appeal of nearly $1 million in costs and fees awarded to the lawyers who brought the lawsuit."
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
