California police agreed to pay a nearly $1 million settlement after they forced a mentally unstable man to confess by threatening to kill his dog if he did not falsely admit to murdering his father, who was alive and well.
Thomas Pérez Jr was questioned by police for more than 17 hours in 2018 in an interrogation that amounted to “unconstitutional psychological torture,” according to the judge.
Pérez reported his father’s disappearance to the police. He was never formally arrested, but he was still taken to the Fontana Police Department on August 8, 2018 for questioning.
The officers told him that if he did not confess to murdering his father, they would have to put his dog to sleep due to “depression” from witnessing a murder that never occurred.
After hours of interrogation, Perez became visibly distraught and resorted to self-destructive acts such as pulling out his hair, hitting himself, and ripping off his shirt.
The officers told him that if he did not confess to murdering his father, they would have to put his dog to sleep due to ‘depression’ from witnessing a murder that never happened.
The judge said he had “lack of sleep, mental illness and, significantly, withdrawal symptoms from his psychiatric medications.”
Perez had also reportedly begged for medical attention, but was never provided with his psychiatric medication.
He was told that his father was found dead with stab wounds, however, shortly after police found his father alive and well. Pérez’s sister said her father was with a ‘friend.’
A detective reportedly told him: ‘How can you sit there, how can you sit there and say you don’t know what happened, and your dog is sitting there looking at you, knowing that you killed your dad?’
‘Look at your dog. She knows it, because she was walking through all the blood.’
After 17 hours of interrogation, Pérez finally admitted to the crime he did not commit.
Perez had also reportedly begged for medical attention, but was never provided with his psychiatric medication. When the two agents who were interrogating him left Pérez alone in the room, he attempted suicide by hanging.
After 17 hours of interrogation, Pérez finally admitted to the crime he did not commit
When the two interrogating officers left Perez alone in the room, he attempted suicide by hanging.
California Judge Dolly Gee ruled last June that evidence in the case would convince jurors that the interrogation amounted to “unconstitutional psychological torture.”
Footage of the interrogation was released, sparking outrage and a lengthy legal battle before the city of Fontana, California, finally agreed to a $900,000 settlement.
His attorney Jerry Steering told Orange County Registry, “Mentally torturing Tom Pérez into falsely confessing, hiding from him that his father was alive and well, and confining him to the psychiatric ward because they made him suicidal.”
“In my 40 years of suing police I have never seen that level of deliberate cruelty by police,” he continued.
“This case shows that if the police are skilled enough and interrogate you enough, they can get anyone to confess to anything.”
The city of Fontana, California, finally agreed to pay Thomas Perez Jr (pictured) a $900,000 settlement. Pérez was questioned by police for more than 17 hours in 2018 in an interrogation that amounted to “unconstitutional psychological torture.”
After being forced to confess, Pérez was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward, where he remained isolated for three days. The police never told her that his father was found alive. For three days, he was alone in the psychiatric unit believing that both his father and his dog were dead.
After confessing, Pérez was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward. There they kept him isolated for three days in a row.
Police reportedly did not inform Perez that his father was still alive. His dog was also taken to a shelter but was later rescued, according to the Telegraph.
For days, Perez sat alone in the psychiatric unit believing that both his father and his dog were dead.
The police department has not specified whether the officers involved will face any repercussions.