The New York Post, a bastion of journalistic integrity, gave a highly sympathetic forum to retired NYPD Detective Louis Scarcella to set the record straight after an investigation by the New York Times found that Scarcella falsified evidence and forced confessions during the 1980s and 1990s.

“I’m standing up for myself because it’s the truthful thing to do,” said Louis Scarcella, 61, a decorated cop involved in more than 300 murder probes during the blood-soaked 1980s and 1990s.

According to The Post, Scarcella is the innocent victim of a smear-campaign that is looking to hold him directly responsible for putting several innocent people in prison. David Ranta was freed after 23 years, following a conviction for murder that Scarcella got by coaching witnesses. But Scarcella was simply doing his job in the "blood-soaked" streets of 1980s New York.

“David is guilty of felony murder,” he said. “He is not this innocent guy. He confessed. And he knows he gave me that statement.”

Scarcella also used the same witness, a drug-addicted prostitute, on five different murder cases.

How could one person see so much death?

“It’s weird, but it’s the truth,” Scarcella said. “She roamed the streets.”

The Brooklyn DA's office is now reviewing 50 cases that Scarcella worked on, while The Post is giving out a stern warning: David Ranta, a killer, has been freed. And Scarcella, a hero, is being railroaded.

[via Gothamist]