Vegas Police Pay $34 Million for Fabricated Evidence in 2001 Killing
A Nevada federal jury awarded Kirstin Lobato, now Blaise, $34 million in compensatory damages and $10,000 in punitive damages from two retired Las Vegas detectives, finding they fabricated evidence and inflicted emotional distress during her wrongful conviction for a 2001 murder. Lobato, wrongly convicted twice and imprisoned for nearly 16 years, was exonerated in 2017 after new evidence proved her innocence. The jury’s verdict concluded that Las Vegas police were responsible for her ordeal; the department had preemptively agreed to pay damages should the jury find in Lobato’s favor. The detectives’ attorney plans to appeal the decision.
John Q. Hosedrinker