A federal jury in Nevada has awarded $34 million in damages to Kristin Lobato, a woman wrongfully convicted of a 2001 killing and imprisoned for nearly 16 years.
The jury on Thursday found that Las Vegas police and two detectives fabricated evidence and caused emotional distress during the investigation, leading to Lobato’s wrongful imprisonment.
Lobato, now 41 and known as Blaise, was 18 at the time of her arrest. She was convicted twice for the murder of Duran Bailey, a homeless man whose body was found near a trash bin with a slashed neck and other injuries.
Despite a lack of physical evidence or eyewitnesses linking her to the crime, police alleged she confessed to killing Bailey in self-defence during a methamphetamine binge.
Speaking after the verdict, Lobato said, “It’s been an uphill battle with many, many obstacles. And I’m happy that it’s all finally finished.” However, she admitted uncertainty about her future, stating, “I have no idea what the rest of my life is going to look like.”
The jury awarded Lobato $34 million in compensatory damages from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and an additional $10,000 in punitive damages from each of the two retired detectives involved, Thomas Thowsen and James LaRochelle.
Lobato was first convicted of murder in 2002, but the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 2004 due to her lawyers’ inability to cross-examine a critical witness. In 2006, she was retried, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to up to 45 years in prison.
Lobato’s exoneration came in 2017 after the Innocence Project and her legal team presented evidence proving she was in Panaca, Nevada, over 150 miles from the crime scene, at the time of Bailey’s murder. The Nevada Supreme Court ultimately overturned her conviction.
Last year, a state judge issued a certificate declaring Lobato innocent, though this action has been contested by Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who requested a state investigation into how the certificate was obtained.
Outside court, attorneys for the retired detectives declined to comment, with their representative, Craig Anderson, signalling a likely appeal.
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