Landis (first name unknown) is a former detective who led the investigation into the rape and attempted murder of Cookie Costello. In spite of procedure being lax and inconsistent in the 1960s, the rapist, Sal Muñoz, was identified after being picked up on a traffic violation, with the bloody switchblade he used to stab Cookie in his car. Muñoz was convicted and spent thirty years in prison.
Muñoz got a retrial from numerous problems with the investigation. Among arguments of racial profiling, such as an all-white jury and Muñoz being placed in a lineup that was otherwise Irish-American cops, it was believed that Muñoz's confessions were beaten out of him at an infamous dockside where suspects were tortured, which Landis denied. In spite of Muñoz's semen on the dress Cookie wore during the attack, Cookie's bookmaking record and her being a client of the same lawyer who defended Muñoz was put in the forefront.
The arguments brought up at the trial were enough to overturn Muñoz's conviction. (L&O: "Remand")