The Burden
This week, Latino USA brings you an episode of The Burden podcast.
In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. \u201cThe Hulk\u201d was his nickname.
Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers (who all say they are innocent!) turned jailhouse-lawyers. In prison they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away. They set out to turn the tables on Scarcella while still in prison. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they would succeed.
Thirty years later, more than 20 people Scarcella helped put away have walked free. In the media he\u2019s the \u201cdisgraced detective,\u201d the rogue cop who hoodwinked an entire system.\xa0
For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that\u2019s all he\u2019d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. \u201cThe guilty have gone free,\u201d he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast ... where justice is done (and undone).
You can subscribe to the podcast here.\xa0