Greenbelt, Md., Attorney Cary Hansel, Civil Rights Case Featured on National Investigation Discovery News Program

Cary Hansel, an attorney and principal at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, PA (Greenbelt, Md.), will appear in a one-hour TV documentary about one of his civil rights cases. Titled “Fit to Kill,” the episode about Mr. Hansel’s case will air Nov. 23 on the weekly investigative news program Deadline: Crime With Tamron Hall, produced by NBC News’ Peacock Productions and airing on Investigation Discovery.

Mr. Hansel represented Keith Longtin, who was wrongly accused of killing his wife. Police interrogated Mr. Longtin without sleep or sufficient food for almost two days. When Mr. Longtin continued to maintain his innocence, police falsified his confession and ignored DNA evidence clearing him. As a result, Mr. Longtin was jailed for eight months for a crime he did not commit. During that time, Mr. Longtin missed his wife’s funeral, his friends and family were all falsely told he had confessed, and he was evicted from his apartment, losing all of his belongings when they were put out on the curb. His very strong faith carried him through the ordeal and he was eventually freed based on DNA evidence. A serial rapist whose DNA matched that recovered from the victim was later convicted. One of the great tragedies of the case was that the police ignored information pointing to the serial rapist in order to focus on Mr. Longtin instead. This allowed the rapist to remain free and rape six other women before he was eventually caught. Mr. Hansel recovered the highest civil rights verdict ever affirmed by the Court of Appeals in Maryland.

Mr. Hansel is based in the Greenbelt, Md., office, of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, which has additional offices in Rockville, Columbia and Prince Frederick, Md. Mr. Hansel has extensive trial and appellate experience, representing clients in civil rights, constitutional law and government liability cases. His broad practice also encompasses business and contract disputes, employment law, public regulation, insurance litigation, products liability, and administrative law.