Allegations of Abuses Mar Murder Cases - washingtonpost.com

The room is cramped and cold. The floor and walls are carpeted to muffle sound. A small table and two chairs are the only furnishings. There is no window, no clock, no clue to when night becomes day. After 28 hours in that interrogation room, Keith Longtin was so exhausted he wondered if he'd lost his mind....

Longtin spent the next eight months in jail, charged with the 1999 slaying of his wife while Prince George's County homicide detectives overlooked DNA evidence that would set him free. Eventually, other investigators -- not the homicide squad -- linked the DNA to a man they now say is the real killer...

Prince George's police came under federal investigation late last year when the Justice Department said it would review complaints of brutality, racial discrimination and excessive use of force. Federal authorities said the probe, which is expected to take more than a year, also would include a review of the police canine unit and of shootings of civilians by police officers. A Pattern of Complaints The methods the Prince George's detectives allegedly used in the four false-confession cases -- including lengthy interrogations, refusal to let suspects speak with lawyers, and improper threats and promises -- were similar to police tactics described by suspects and defense lawyers in dozens of other Prince George's cases reviewed by The Post. In many of the other cases, the evidence does not make clear whether the confessions extracted were false.