Connecticut is expected to pay nearly $5.9 million to the family of a disabled man who was wrongly imprisoned for more than two decades before his release in 2015, when his 1992 conviction in the murder and rape of an 88-year-old grandmother was canceled.
Richard Lapointe, who died at age 74 in 2020, had Dandy-Walker syndrome, a rare congenital brain malformation that his lawyers say was a factor in his false confession. Lapointe was never found innocent, but his lawyers and the state attorney general’s office ultimately agreed to settle after years of legal battles.
The state Claims Commissioner’s Office on Jan. 2 awarded the money to the family, although it still must be approved by the Legislature. The Claims Commissioner’s Office determines whether people can file lawsuits against the state or receive money under the state’s wrongful incarceration law.
Claims Commissioner Robert Shea Jr. said his office agreed the sentence was “reasonable and appropriate.”
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In this April 10, 2015, photo, Richard Lapointe, center, raises his arms with Kate Germond, left, and Paul Casteleiro, both of Centurion Ministries, after being granted bond and released at Connecticut Supreme Court in Hartford, Connecticut. (Ap)
Lapointe’s lawyer, Paul Casteleiro, said the award was “a recognition of the state of wrong he committed in the pursuit and imprisonment of an innocent man. Sadly, Richard did not live long enough to witness its final vindication.
“The award is in no way adequate compensation for what was done to Richard Lapointe,” Casteleiro said Friday, adding that the state had destroyed his client’s life “for a crime he had no intention of not committed.”
The attorney general’s office said in a statement Friday that it “negotiated a resolution of this claim in the best interests of all parties. This reflects that process.”
In 1987, Lapointe’s wife’s grandmother, Bernice Martin, was found stabbed, raped and strangled in her burning apartment in Manchester, Connecticut.
Lapointe was convicted in Martin’s 1992 murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. Key evidence in the case included Lapointe’s confessions during a nearly 10-hour interrogation by Manchester police.
His lawyers argued that his mental disability gave him a false confession and that the confession was coerced without his lawyers present.
Lapointe was convicted of murder in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. (istock)
The state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in a 2015 ruling that Lapointe was deprived of a fair trial since prosecutors failed to disclose notes by a police officer that could have supported a defense of alibi. Later that year, prosecutors said new DNA testing did not implicate Lapointe and all charges were dropped.
No one else has been charged in Martin’s killing.
Lapointe was released from custody shortly afterward and left the Hartford courthouse wearing a black T-shirt that read “I didn’t do it” as he threw his hands into the air in triumph.
“Of course I didn’t,” Lapointe said at the time. “It wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do anything like that to anyone. I wouldn’t even kill my worst enemy.”
Casteleiro said the case against Lapointe destroyed his family, who shunned him.
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The state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in a 2015 decision that Lapointe was deprived of a fair trial. (istock)
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Before Martin’s death, Lapointe and his wife, who suffers from cerebral palsy, “were making a life together. They were doing well,” Casteleiro said. But after his arrest, his wife divorced him and he lost all contact with his son, who was young at the time.
After his release from prison, Lapointe began suffering from dementia, was placed in a nursing home in East Hartford and died after a battle with Covid-19, according to his lawyers.
Lapointe was supported by several advocates, including Friends of Friends of Richard Lapointe and Centurion, an organization Casteleiro works for that helps convict wrongdoers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
