Nov 16, 2006 12:35 pm US/Eastern
Families Of Wrongly Convicted Men Sue FBI
by Dan Rea
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
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Joe Salvati, wrongly convicted of a Mafia murder, and Marie Salvati, his wife, in June 2002 file photo.
AP
The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI face the start of a civil trial at The Moakley Federal Court in South Boston Thursday.
The plaintiffs are all victims of FBI wrongdoing, dating back to the 1960's.
The families of Joe Salvati, Peter Limone, Henry Tameleo and Louis Grieco are suing for millions of dollars in a civil lawsuit that has been four decades in the making.
"It did take a long time but it's finally here and maybe we'll get some justice," said Salvati outside court Thursday morning.
"It's been a long time, brings back a lot of bad memories. I didn't see my children grow up," said Limone.
The story starts with the murder of a small-time Chelsea hood back in 1965.
But is has exploded into a case of immense corruption at the highest levels that could cost the federal government millions.
Salvati spent thirty years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
Limone, also innocent, spent 33 years behind bars convicted of the same crime.
Greco and Tameleo died behind bars.
They were implicated by the perjured testimony of FBI informant Joe "The Animal" Barboza. The men allege the FBI knew Barboza was lying and withheld crucial evidence from prosecutors.
Now their lawyers are, in effect, putting the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department on trial, a civil trial - with millions in damages at stake.
"The mindset of the Department of Justice I believe can be best exemplified with what H. Paul Rico stated before the congressional committee when he said 'What do you want? Tears?' " said Victor Garo, the attorney for the Salvati family.
"No, the Salvati family doesn't want tears, all they want is justice and that's what we're seeking today with this trial."
"What we hope and what the Limones, and the Tamelos, and the Grecos and the Salvati family hope is that the Department of Justice finally will listen," said Juliane Balliro, the attorney for the Limone family.
"That the politicians will listen and recognize we have a serious problem here this is the Department of Justice, not the Department of Injustice."
The justice department's defense is that even if it knew these men were innocent, it had no duty to share that information with prosecutors.
That's their story and they're sticking with it.
The trial will be before Federal District Court Judge Nancy Gertner. It could last anywhere from four-to-six weeks.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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