A federal jury on Long Island has exonerated several former detectives who arrested three men in a 1984 rape and murder investigation and were being sued for false prosecution.
The three men — John Restivo, Dennis Halstead and John Kogut — spent about 18 years in prison for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Theresa Fusco.
They sued Nassau County for $190 million after they were freed in 2003 when DNA evidence from the victim’s body did not match any of the three.
The county maintained that police did nothing wrong and the jury on Thursday agreed.
Newsday says lawyers for the three men plan to appeal.
Fusco’s nude body was found several weeks after she was last seen leaving her job at a Long Island roller-skating rink.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
