Thursday, 4:30 PM
Trial begins over FBI role in wrongful convictions
By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff
There's no question that the FBI recruited notorious hitman Joseph "The Animal'' Barboza as a witness against local Mafia leaders, then turned him over to state prosecutors in a case that led to the wrongful conviction of four men for a 1965 gangland murder in Chelsea.
But Thursday, on the first day of a civil trial seeking more than $100 million in damages from the federal government, a Justice Department lawyer insisted the FBI can't be blamed because state prosecutors were responsible for investigating and trying the case.
"The FBI is not liable,'' said the government attorney, Bridget Bailey Lipscomb.
But lawyers for Peter Limone, Joseph Salvati, Henry Tameleo, and Louis Greco accused the FBI of making a "mockery'' of justice by failing to tell state prosecutors or defense lawyers about evidence that suggested Barboza had framed the four men for the slaying of small-time hoodlum Edward "Teddy'' Deegan.
Limone, 72, and Salvati, 74, spent more than 30 years in prison before they were exonerated five years ago, while Greco and Tameleo both died in prison.
"The FBI initiated the prosecution by delivering a perjurious witness to the state prosecutor, knowing his testimony was false,'' said Boston attorney Juliane Balliro, who represents Limone and Tameleo's family. "But for the deliberate misconduct of the FBI, these men would not even have been indicted, let alone convicted for the murder of Edward Deegan.''
The lawsuit accuses the government of malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision of FBI agents, conspiracy, and loss of consortium by the men and their families.
Deegan was gunned down in a Chelsea alley in March 1965, but local police were unable to solve the slaying until the FBI struck a deal with Barboza. He was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in Deegan's murder and his testimony led to the 1968 conviction of the four men. Tameleo, Limone, and Greco were initially given the death penalty, then later sentence to life. Salvati was also sentenced to life in prison.
