Fontana pays nearly $900,000 for ‘psychological torture’ inflicted by police to get false confession

[Ferguson97]

This is genuinely one of the most vile stories I've ever read. These officers are pure sadists.

https://www.sbsun.com/2024/05/23/fontana-pays-nearly-900000-for-psychological-torture-inflicted-by-police-to-get-false-confession/

Within hours after Thomas Perez Jr. called police to report his father missing, he found himself in a tiny interrogation room confronted by Fontana detectives determined to extract a confession that he killed his dad.

Perez had told police that his father, 71-year-old Thomas Perez Sr., went out for a walk with the family dog at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2018. The dog returned within minutes without Perez’s father. Investigators didn’t believe his story, and over the next 17 hours they grilled him to try to get to the “truth.”

According to court records, detectives told Perez that his father was dead, that they had recovered his body and it now “wore a toe tag at the morgue.” They said they had evidence that Perez killed his father and that he should just admit it, records show.

Perez insisted he didn’t remember killing anyone, but detectives allegedly told him that the human mind often tries to suppress troubling memories.

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.

He was so distraught that he even tried to hang himself with the drawstring from his shorts after being left alone in the interrogation room. Perez was arrested, handcuffed and transported to a mental hospital for 72-hour observation.

But later that day, the truth derailed the detectives’ theory and their prized confession.

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.

[MasterJedi]

Remember, the police are not your friend. They like to make up stories and then force a confession to fit their narrative. Never talk to the police without a lawyer.

[DaleCooper]

We need to start throwing these cops into prison for life or this is never going to stop. Cops need to understand that if they abuse their power, then their life will end, no ifs, ands, or buts.

There's a huge crisis of faith in American police right now. Almost everybody younger than 55 hates them. I've encountered several otherwise normal people who just shrug off news story about police getting killed. It's really bad and it's because we don't hold these guys accountable. These cops are still working.

[MasterJedi]

We need to start throwing these cops into prison for life or this is never going to stop. Cops need to understand that if they abuse their power, then their life will end, no ifs, ands, or buts.

There's a huge crisis of faith in American police right now. Almost everybody younger than 55 hates them. I've encountered several otherwise normal people who just shrug off news story about police getting killed. It's really bad and it's because we don't hold these guys accountable. These cops are still working.

They need to make the police pay the awards out of their pensions. It would get cracked down really fast

[GP270watch]

  Law enforcement in the United States needs a new code of conduct for investigations and suspect interviews. In other countries police are not allowed to lie, threaten, withhold sleep or food to extract confessions. Studies have shown that doing these tactics do not produce reliable confessions anyways. If you starve, sleep deprive, or mentally torture a suspect long enough you can pretty much get them to say anything.

[Mr. Matt]

Fontana, California for the record

[Old Man Willow]

Police should not be able to lie during interrogations like this. There should have been a nationwide ban on this after Michael Crowe.

[ProudModerate2]

Read the entire article.
Crazy story. Unbelievable content, but it seems to be, all true.
Why the detectives would do this, and produce all those lies, mental torture, and even threats to the dog's life, is beyond me.
They should be severely punished, even terminated, for what they did here.

[Landslide Lyndon]

That's a pittance compared to the vileness of the things these cops did.
And they should all be sent to do traffic stops at the middle of the Mojave desert for the rest of their lives.

[TheReckoning]

Is it very weird that this confessed to a literal murder just because police told him too. On top of compensation, he may need to spend some time in a mental hospital to address whatever caused him to act this way.

[Epaminondas]

Is it very weird that this confessed to a literal murder just because police told him too. On top of compensation, he may need to spend some time in a mental hospital to address whatever caused him to act this way.

Torture messes with the mind, that's why no confession under duress is admissible in court.

By your logic, Galileo should also have been sent to a mental hospital because he espoused the views of the church under threat of torture.

[MasterJedi]

Is it very weird that this confessed to a literal murder just because police told him too. On top of compensation, he may need to spend some time in a mental hospital to address whatever caused him to act this way.

Hence why torture (mental or physical) doesn’t work. People will eventually tell you whatever you want to hear to make the pain stop. Yet people still think it’s “fine” and people still pretend water boarding is not torture.

[Fuzzy Bear]

This is genuinely one of the most vile stories I've ever read. These officers are pure sadists.

https://www.sbsun.com/2024/05/23/fontana-pays-nearly-900000-for-psychological-torture-inflicted-by-police-to-get-false-confession/

Within hours after Thomas Perez Jr. called police to report his father missing, he found himself in a tiny interrogation room confronted by Fontana detectives determined to extract a confession that he killed his dad.

Perez had told police that his father, 71-year-old Thomas Perez Sr., went out for a walk with the family dog at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2018. The dog returned within minutes without Perez’s father. Investigators didn’t believe his story, and over the next 17 hours they grilled him to try to get to the “truth.”

According to court records, detectives told Perez that his father was dead, that they had recovered his body and it now “wore a toe tag at the morgue.” They said they had evidence that Perez killed his father and that he should just admit it, records show.

Perez insisted he didn’t remember killing anyone, but detectives allegedly told him that the human mind often tries to suppress troubling memories.

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.

He was so distraught that he even tried to hang himself with the drawstring from his shorts after being left alone in the interrogation room. Perez was arrested, handcuffed and transported to a mental hospital for 72-hour observation.

But later that day, the truth derailed the detectives’ theory and their prized confession.

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.

These guys are really over the top.  This was a Psy-Op.

If Police advise a person of their Miranda Rights, they should certainly use those rights and remain silent.  If they are telling you that you are free to leave, you should do so.  After that, you should obtain legal counsel and keep your mouth shut until your lawyer tells you otherwise.  That means keep your mouth shut to your friends and family as well.  

It is legal for police to use deception in interviewing and interrogating witnesses in order to determine the truthfulness of a person, or to lock them into a narrative which cannot be possible based on the facts of this case.  This is another reason to remain silent.  Many people (foolishly) fail to do this because they (A) are guilty of something (although maybe not the "big crime" itself), and (B) want to find out what the police know about them, or (possibly) about someone close to them.  That sort of use of deception is legitimate, but this goes WAY beyond that.  These detectives arguably used "thought insertion", a technique that has been used by overzealous clinicians seeking to uncover the truth in alleged child sex abuse, sometimes inserting thoughts into persons to where they have actual false memories.  Not to mention the threat to euthanize one's dog.  

If your in a jam, take advantage of your Miranda Rights, which include the right to leave if you are not being detained or arrested.  After that, get a lawyer. (I'm pro-cop, but I have told all of my sons to do that if a cop advises them of their Miranda Rights.)  I don't believe that this is the norm, and I suspect that the individual subjected to this may have had mental health issues which may have been known to the interrogating detectives (which, actually, would make this worse).  Hopefully, these detectives are no longer police officers.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I agree with fuzzy. Shame to the victim for believing even for one moment that the cops were normal human beings and not a pack of sociopathic jerks who'd throw their own mothers under the bus if that gave them a "confession".

[Fuzzy Bear]

I agree with fuzzy. Shame to the victim for believing even for one moment that the cops were normal human beings and not a pack of sociopathic jerks who'd throw their own mothers under the bus if that gave them a "confession".

I've not said this.  This is not normal operating procedure for police, but these guys were running a psy-op, which is something very different from normal interrogation. 

[DaleCooper]

I agree with fuzzy. Shame to the victim for believing even for one moment that the cops were normal human beings and not a pack of sociopathic jerks who'd throw their own mothers under the bus if that gave them a "confession".

Fuzzy was pretty unemotional in describing it but he's right. Cops are not your friends, they can't be trusted, and if they're talking to you in any context beyond giving you a traffic ticket or taking witness statements from bystanders near an accident, then you shouldn't say a word to them. If they're taking you down to the station, then they've made it their mission to put you in jail. Truth be damned. They're not trying to crack the case or figure out what happened, they're trying to get you to say something that can be used against you in court.

[DaleCooper]

 Hopefully, these detectives are no longer police officers.

According to the article I read, one is retired and the rest are still police officers. In my opinion, every single conviction involving these men should be re-investigated.

[Yoda]

Reading about this made me physically unwell. There's no consequence short of a lengthy prison sentence that is acceptable for these "police officers." They're terrorists. full stop. Not officers of the peace.

[Badger]

Is it very weird that this confessed to a literal murder just because police told him too. On top of compensation, he may need to spend some time in a mental hospital to address whatever caused him to act this way.

Utterly reprehensible.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I agree with fuzzy. Shame to the victim for believing even for one moment that the cops were normal human beings and not a pack of sociopathic jerks who'd throw their own mothers under the bus if that gave them a "confession".

Fuzzy was pretty unemotional in describing it but he's right. Cops are not your friends, they can't be trusted, and if they're talking to you in any context beyond giving you a traffic ticket or taking witness statements from bystanders near an accident, then you shouldn't say a word to them. If they're taking you down to the station, then they've made it their mission to put you in jail. Truth be damned. They're not trying to crack the case or figure out what happened, they're trying to get you to say something that can be used against you in court.

This is from the Public Defender in Broward County, FL:

It is extremely important that you do not discuss the facts of your case with anyone other than your attorney.

These are free websites, available to all.  What's on this website is from a Public Defender.

[DaleCooper]

I agree with fuzzy. Shame to the victim for believing even for one moment that the cops were normal human beings and not a pack of sociopathic jerks who'd throw their own mothers under the bus if that gave them a "confession".

Fuzzy was pretty unemotional in describing it but he's right. Cops are not your friends, they can't be trusted, and if they're talking to you in any context beyond giving you a traffic ticket or taking witness statements from bystanders near an accident, then you shouldn't say a word to them. If they're taking you down to the station, then they've made it their mission to put you in jail. Truth be damned. They're not trying to crack the case or figure out what happened, they're trying to get you to say something that can be used against you in court.

This is from the Public Defender in Broward County, FL:

It is extremely important that you do not discuss the facts of your case with anyone other than your attorney.

These are free websites, available to all.  What's on this website is from a Public Defender.

Okay? I agree 100%. Cops aren't your friends. Even if you're innocent, perhaps especially if you're innocent, never say a word to them.

[MasterJedi]

I agree with fuzzy. Shame to the victim for believing even for one moment that the cops were normal human beings and not a pack of sociopathic jerks who'd throw their own mothers under the bus if that gave them a "confession".

Fuzzy was pretty unemotional in describing it but he's right. Cops are not your friends, they can't be trusted, and if they're talking to you in any context beyond giving you a traffic ticket or taking witness statements from bystanders near an accident, then you shouldn't say a word to them. If they're taking you down to the station, then they've made it their mission to put you in jail. Truth be damned. They're not trying to crack the case or figure out what happened, they're trying to get you to say something that can be used against you in court.

This is from the Public Defender in Broward County, FL:

It is extremely important that you do not discuss the facts of your case with anyone other than your attorney.

These are free websites, available to all.  What's on this website is from a Public Defender.

Okay? I agree 100%. Cops aren't your friends. Even if you're innocent, perhaps especially if you're innocent, never say a word to them.

What you were obviously saying is to identify yourself, don’t be a see you next Tuesday, generally cooperate until they start trying to ask actual questions about the incident.