A FOIA Case: Vincent James Landano
Vincent James Landano had been beating his head against prison walls trying to clear his name of a murder charge for over a decade when the Freedom of Information Act came to his rescue. Landano's fight set a 1993 Supreme Court precedent that barred the F.B.I. from categorically denying document requests involving informants. Thousands and thousands of documents have been released as a result of his case.
Landano was 32 years old, a heroin addict, and a former Attica prisoner who was leading a decidedly aimless life when he was again caught in the American justice system in 1976. Newark Patrolman John Snow had been killed in a robbery on Aug. 13, 1976 while delivering $46,000 to a Kearny, N.J., check-cashing service. Members of the Breed motorcycle gang were arrested for the crime and they fingered Landano—who was not a member of the gang but was a childhood friend of its leader, Victor Forni—as both the shooter and driver of the getaway car. In truth, the gang members were protecting Forni.
Wrongly convicted and sentenced to a life term, Landano embarked on an epic quest to clear his name.
Landano kicked his drug habit and reformed his life. He also made a habit of reading and re-reading his trial transcripts and studied to become a lawyer, all the while corralling anyone from the outside world visiting his prison to enlist them to help clear his name. Neil M. Mullin, a Montclair, N.J., lawyer who often cooperates with the American Civil Liberties Union on cases, signed on.
