During the interrogation where two officers accused Mr Perez of murder, he started pulling at his hair, hitting himself and tearing off his shirt.
Mr Perez also begged for medical attention and was reportedly told he did not need his psychiatric medication.
The judge noted that Mr Perez was “sleep deprived, mentally ill, and, significantly, undergoing symptoms of withdrawal from his psychiatric medications”.
After several hours, detectives falsely told Mr Perez that his father’s body had been located with stab wounds, the complaint says. At this point, Mr Perez falsely confessed and was left alone in the room, where he then tried to hang himself.
Jerry Steering, Mr Perez’s lawyer 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.”