The story of the Mafia cops, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, are the stuff of movies.  And New York.  The mob is as intertwined in the history of New York City as the Brooklyn Dodgers, except they didn’t move out on their own.  And a part of every story is the cop on the take.

Barry Gibbs is 62 years old.  He walked out of prison in 2005 after doing 19 years because Eppolito framed him for murder.  Eppolito needed somebody to nail to close the file, and Gibbs was the man.  He settled with the State for $1.9 million, and now settled with the City for $9.9 million. 

“The settlement I’m happy with; it was my bottom-line settlement,” Mr. Gibbs said in an interview, sounding almost indifferent to the news. “They are permanent scars,” he added. “It’s been a long road. I’ve been through a lot, and it was very traumatic for me.”

This is the largest settlement ever with the City of New York.  For now.  It’s a lot of money, particularly for a former postal worker who struggled with drug addiction and didn’t have great expectations for his future.  He was the perfect choice for Eppolito to frame, a throw-away in the scheme of humanity.  No one would ever care if Gibbs lived or died.

Barry Gibbs cared.  Barry Scheck cared.  First, his innocence project obtained Gibbs’ freedom.  Then, in his private lawyer capacity, he obtained compensation.  Yes, he took his third, but nobody hands Scheck those sweet suits he wears for free, you know.  He’s allowed.  In fact, few are more entitled than Barry Scheck.

But Barry Gibbs isn’t likely to need any bespoke clothing, even though he can afford to buy anything he wants.  He’s just trying to adjust, and it hasn’t been easy.

“I’m surviving in this world out here,” he said. “It’s not easy readjusting to this life. Computers, phones, cars, everything — it was overwhelming to me when I first got out. Now I just flow with it.”

Does money help to readjust?  It can’t hurt, I assume, but I bet Gibbs would have paid for this opportunity:

Mr. Gibbs even attended a sentencing hearing for Mr. Eppolito and Mr. Caracappa, who are serving life plus 100 years in prison, during which he was escorted out for yelling: “Do you remember me? I’m the guy you put away for 19 years!”

It disrupted Eppolito’s sentencing, but only for a few seconds.  Hardly too much to tolerate in comparison to 19 years of life lost.

It’s never clear to me whether money compensates for the years of life lost to prison, or even how much money is the right amount.  It doesn’t square things up, but it’s the best the system can offer.  The system’s best isn’t very good.  But money serves another purpose, as its the currency of politics.  To some small extent, it puts a price on government’s blind faith in bad cops.  It’s that much less they have to hand out to cronies for honest graft.

The New York City Police Department had reason to believe that Eppolito and Caracappa were dirty long before they retired and took their pension.  As is the police way, they were cleared for service.  Eppolito retired to Vegas, where Gibbs original police file was found amongst his papers.  He obviously remembered Gibbs enough to glom the file.

When Eppolito was sentenced to 100 years in prison, he was 60 years old.  When Gibbs was sentenced to prison, he was only 38. The years from 38 to 60 are big ones, not that any year of life is inconsequential.  I wouldn’t trade those 22 years of life for $10+ million.  But then Eppolito wouldn’t have chosen me to frame.

A recurring theme is that the targets of police abuse, misconduct, framing, are societal throw-aways.  The sort of people that good, law-abiding people care nothing about, and are inclined to believe are guilty of something and, well, just generally worthless.  Prosecutors and judges care little for the flotsam of society, and feel no particular concern that they get tossed carelessly on the junkheap of the criminal justice system.  These are the people who are smeared in the first police press announcement with their prior criminal record, irrelevant except to show their propensity toward crime and their worthlessness to society.  “Who cares” is the message.

Had Eppolito framed a respected member of the community, it’s likely that it would have been subjected to far greater scrutiny by all the government players.  It’s likely that the respected member of the community would have had the resources to mount a fight.  Eppolito didn’t want a fight, so he threw Gibbs away.  Had it been a respected member of the community, it would have cost a whole lot more than $10 million dollars to settle this claim.

The price of Barry Gibbs’ innocence was cheap to everyone but Barry Gibbs.  When it’s your life thrown on the junkheap of society, the price cannot be measured.  Contrary to what judges, prosecutors and dirty cops may think, Barry Gibbs’ life is every bit as worthy as that of the people they perceive as a respected member of society. 

H/T Ed at Blawg Review via Injustice Everywhere