After a week of emotional testimony, jury sides with Kirstin Blaise Lobato, who sued detectives she says framed her for the 2001 murder of a homeless man.
LAS VEGAS – Kirstin Blaise Lobato was only 18 years old when she was wrongfully arrested for the much-publicized murder of Duran Bailey, who was found beaten, stabbed, and mutilated behind a Las Vegas bank in 2001. She spent more than 16 years in jail, before being exonerated in 2017 and issued a certificate of innocence.
Today, nearly a quarter century after her arrest, Ms. Lobato’s long quest for justice came to an end, as a federal jury in her civil lawsuit against the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) found in her favor and awarded her $34 million in damages.
This is believed to be the largest award to a wrongfully convicted woman in U.S. history.
“I am so grateful to my attorneys, Loevy + Loevy, for taking my case when no one else would help me, and for working so hard on it,” says Ms. Lobato.
According to her lawsuit, Lobato had been wrongfully targeted by LVMPD due to having defended herself against an unrelated rape attempt over a month before Bailey was killed. In fabricating their case against her, her lawyers argued, detectives mischaracterized and misrepresented her statements about this unrelated event, and wrote false reports essentially suggesting she had confessed to Bailey’s murder, despite knowing that she had not. In fact, Ms. Lobato was several hours away in Panaca, and had a rock-solid alibi for the time of Bailey’s death.
“Detectives not only framed Blaise Lobato for murder, but they actually used the trauma of her earlier, unrelated sexual assault to do it,” says Elizabeth Wang, one of the attorneys representing Ms. Lobato. “Blaise was a vulnerable teenager, and the criminal justice system failed her. Today, the jury spoke the truth and delivered justice.”
David B. Owens, another of Ms. Lobato’s attorneys, says this landmark verdict is a clarion call for survivors of sexual assault who are then harmed by law enforcement who are meant to keep them safe.
“Blaise was a person the police should have treated with care, concern, and protection, but instead they built a bogus case around a teenager by weaponizing a rape attempt she survived. Our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, our friends should be protected; and when they are abused by law enforcement itself, it is disgusting and an injustice. We are thankful that this jury saw that truth.”
Ms. Lobato’s conviction was vacated by the Nevada state court in December 2017, and all charges against her were dropped. She was released in early January of 2018, after having spent over 16 years in prison. Earlier this year, the state court issued Ms. Lobato a Certificate of Innocence, removing the conviction from her record and officially declaring her innocent of all charges.
Today, the jury found for Ms. Lobato on all claims that detectives had fabricated evidence against her. In addition to the $34 million in compensatory damages, the jury also awarded $10,000 in punitive damages against each of the individual detectives.
For Ms. Lobato, this victory is the last vindicating step in a difficult journey that began when she was only 18.
“This is an extraordinary woman,” says attorney Megan Pierce. “Blaise has been through more in her life than a dozen women should be asked to survive, and she has come out of it tough, and fierce, and stronger than ever. We can’t wait to see what she does with the rest of her life, now that she’s free to put all this behind her.”
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