A Las Vegas woman who spent more than 15 years behind bars for a murder she did not commit has settled her federal civil rights lawsuit against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for $29.5 million, her attorney says. Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato's settlement follows a December 2024 jury verdict that found retired detectives fabricated evidence against her in the 2001 killing of Duran Bailey, whose body was found in Las Vegas that July.
The settlement, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, comes after jurors in December 2024 ruled in Lobato's favor and awarded her $34 million, plus $10,000 in punitive damages against each of two retired detectives, Thomas Thowsen and James LaRochelle. Metro began appealing that verdict, but the case was resolved through mediation during the appeal process, and Lobato received the entire settlement amount. Attorney David Owens said the settlement guaranteed quick payment, since an appeal could have delayed things further, and that the judgment had been accumulating interest since the verdict. Owens also said the size of the settlement reflected the strength of Lobato's case. Metro did not respond to a request for comment about the settlement, according to the same report.
A Case Built Without Physical Evidence
Lobato alleged that Thowsen and LaRochelle framed her for Bailey's murder, and jurors found the retired detectives had fabricated evidence and intentionally caused her emotional distress. The original 2001 investigation produced no physical evidence, DNA, or eyewitnesses tying Lobato to the crime scene behind a dumpster off the Las Vegas Strip, according to Injustice Anywhere. Detectives instead zeroed in on Lobato after a third-hand rumor surfaced about an earlier, unrelated self-defense incident.
Lobato testified that months before Bailey died, in a different part of Las Vegas, she slashed at a man's lower body with a pocketknife when he tried to sexually assault her. Detectives claimed Lobato told them she severed the man's penis, and officials pointed to that account as effectively a confession. Lobato's lawyers countered that she never admitted to cutting off a man's penis, arguing detectives manipulated her, misrepresented witness statements, and destroyed notes.
Entomology Evidence That Broke the Case
Forensic testimony indicated Bailey died late on July 8, 2001, while other forensic evidence showed Lobato was in Panaca, Nevada, roughly 170 miles from Las Vegas, at the time. Clark County District Court Judge Stefany Miley vacated Lobato's murder conviction in December 2017 after forensic entomologists testified that the total absence of blowfly eggs on Bailey's body proved he died shortly before his discovery around 10 p.m., directly contradicting prosecutors' earlier timeline, according to the Innocence Project. Lobato's conviction was vacated for a second time, prosecutors chose not to pursue a third trial, and she was released in 2018. A state court issued her certificate of innocence in October 2023.
Lobato's path through the courts stretched across two decades. She was first convicted of first-degree murder in 2002, but the Nevada Supreme Court overturned that verdict in 2004 due to trial errors. She was retried in 2006 and convicted instead of voluntary manslaughter, mutilation, and weapon charges, drawing a sentence of 13 to 45 years, as detailed by the Associated Press.
State and Federal Payouts, and a Dispute Over Innocence
Attorneys filed the underlying federal lawsuit in 2019, alleging violations of Lobato's constitutional rights. The case went to trial in 2024.
Before the federal case concluded, Lobato had already settled a separate state innocence claim with Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford's office. That settlement drew public pushback: Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and District Attorney Steve Wolfson signed a letter questioning why Ford's office settled with Lobato, indicating that key figures in her prosecution continued to believe she was guilty.
Historic Scale of the Payout
Legal representatives have called the $34 million jury verdict the largest award to a wrongfully convicted woman in U.S. history, according to Loevy & Loevy, the civil rights firm that represented Lobato. The $29.5 million mediated settlement resolved Lobato's wrongful-conviction lawsuit against Metro.
The payout adds another litigation cost for local law enforcement.
For Owens, the resolution marks the close of a fight that began long before the federal verdict. “Blaise had her day in court, the jury heard what she had to say and sided with her and now, she can go on and move on with her life,” Owens said.
