A police force has defended using "psychological torture" to get a man to confess to a murder he didn't commit - of someone who wasn't even dead - after facing such intense interrogation by the police.
Thomas Perez Jr., then aged 30, had reported his father missing to the Fontana Police Department on August 7, 2018, after his dad failed to return home from walking the family dog.
However, Perez Jr. found himself taken in for questioning by the Fontana Police Department after his own report, where he endured a grueling 17-hour interrogation by multiple detectives.
The disturbing ordeal resulted in a false murder confession and nearly a full day of "psychological torture" during interrogation, The Telegraph reports.
According to court records cited by The Orange County Register, detectives informed Perez Jr. that his father was dead and presented him with false evidence suggesting he was responsible for the supposed murder.
Officers told Perez Jr. that bloodstains had been found throughout the house and said a police canine had smelled the presence of a dead body, court records show, per The Orange County Register.
They even brought in Perez's pet dog and threatened to euthanize her, claiming she was traumatized and "depressed" after witnessing the horrific murder.
One investigator reportedly told Perez Jr.: "How can you sit there and say you don’t know what happened, and your dog is sitting there looking at you, knowing that you killed your dad?
"Look at your dog. She knows, because she was walking through all the blood."
The pressure Perez Jr. was allegedly put under was so intense that it led to him confessing to a crime he hadn't committed - a crime which hadn't even happened - and describing a scene where he allegedly stabbed his father multiple times with scissors.
While under questioning, Perez Jr. was filmed beginning to break down, as he started ripping his hair out, tearing at his clothes, and hitting himself.
When he pleaded with officers for medical attention, Perez Jr. was reportedly told that he did not need his psychiatric medication.
Things spiraled so far that Perez Jr. even attempted to take his own life by hanging himself with the drawstring from his shorts while left alone in the interrogation room.
U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee stated that Perez Jr.'s confession was based on falsehoods after he was left “sleep deprived, mentally ill, and, significantly, undergoing symptoms of withdrawal from his psychiatric medications”.
Perez Jr.'s dad was not dead, and his daughter had informed authorities that he had been with a "lady friend" on the night of Perez Jr.'s confession and attempted suicide.
However, despite confirmation that Perez Jr.'s father was in fact alive and well, the police kept that information from him and he remained isolated in an involuntary psychiatric hold for three days.
Perez Jr.'s attorney, Jerry Steering, said he spent the time believing both his father and dog were dead.
After the ordeal, Perez Jr. filed a civil suit against the city of Fontana and was awarded a settlement of $898,000. Perez agreed to the settlement out of concern that a potential jury award could be overturned on appeal due to qualified immunity for police officers.
Fontana Police Department has since defended the way its officers acted in Perez Jr.'s case, after a judge claimed it appeared to be "unconstitutional psychological torture".
In May, the police department called the settlement a "business decision which was recommended by a federal court mediator to save the city further time, effort, and expense."
The statement added: "Again, the parties’ written settlement agreement contains no admission of wrongdoing by anyone, and Mr. Perez specifically agreed to settlement on these terms. Had Mr. Perez requested an admission of wrongdoing, the case would have never settled."
Police Chief Michael Dorsey also addressed the case on Twitter, sharing a lengthy statement which added in part: "In situations like these, it is acceptable and perfectly legal to use different tactics and techniques, such as ruses, to elicit information from people suspected of potential criminal activity. That was done in this case in order to gain resolution."
He added: "We are sorry for what the son went through, and we are grateful to learn that he and his father have reunited, and their relationship has improved."
Perez Jr.'s attorney Jerry Steering told the Orange County Register in response: "I think they should be ashamed of themselves. I think they have no moral compass."
Steering had also previously said: "This case shows that if the police are skilled enough, and they grill you hard enough, they can get anybody to confess to anything."
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