127:; and Richard Joselson of Legal Aid, criticized police and the former prosecutor for failure to pursue other leads and for downplaying the DNA evidence that led to Deskovic's exoneration. According to the report, errors were made throughout the entire case, including tunnel vision by both police and the previous prosecutor, along with reliance on profiling which turned out to be completely incorrect, followed by deliberate downplaying of the DNA evidence that ultimately proved Deskovic was innocent.
100:, who took office after he was imprisoned, refused to accept his lay request to reopen the case. From at least 2000, Deskovic appealed to D.A. Pirro to run post-conviction DNA testing, as he believed it would prove his innocence. Pirro declined to run any DNA tests that could help release him from prison. Deskovic's case was taken by the Innocence Project, which provided him with defense counsel. They repeated his attempt to gain DNA testing.
78:, Correa disappeared after going out with a portable cassette player and a camera for a project for her photography class. Two days later her body was found, and police determined she had been raped and strangled. Deskovic was among the many students who attended her funeral; he was so distraught that he cried openly during the service.
85:, fabricating an account based on crime scene information fed to him by police officers during their leading questions in the course of the interrogation. Deskovic also said: "By the police officer's own testimony, by the end of the interrogation I was on the floor crying uncontrollably in what they described as a fetal position".
107:, authorized DNA testing of Deskovic. It excluded his DNA from that found at the scene. The DNA from the crime scene was found to match that of Steven Cunningham, a man who was already serving a life term for another murder. Confronted with the DNA evidence, he later confessed and pleaded guilty to the Correa murder.
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and imprisonment. In
October 2014 a jury found in his favor and awarded him $ 41.6 million: "$ 25 million for the time he spent wrongfully imprisoned, $ 15 million for his suffering, and the rest for lost wages over those years." Based on a pre-trial settlement with the county, intended to limit the
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Although DNA testing at the time excluded
Deskovic from the forensic DNA found in Correa's body, on December 7, 1990 a jury convicted Deskovic. They were apparently convinced by testimony from Peekskill police detective Daniel Stephens that the young man had confessed to the crime.
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Deskovic now works as an advocate for reform of the criminal justice system. He educates the public through public speaking, published articles, and the
Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, which he established.
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potential payout, Deskovic would receive a total of $ 10 million. The jury’s verdict showed that they believed the county was responsible for the "flawed process that led to
Deskovic’s conviction."
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that was immediately withdrawn, but became the basis for his conviction. He served 16 years, some in an adult "super max" as a minor, while maintaining his innocence. He requested post-conviction
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The police thought
Deskovic was showing suspicious behavior and took him into custody as a potential suspect. They interrogated him at length. Deskovic later said that, under coercion, he made a
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Deskovic's conviction was overturned and he was released from prison in 2006. A subsequent independent review of the case, written by retired judges
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Deskovic continued to proclaim his innocence on numerous occasions after his conviction. The office of
Westchester County
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In 2014 a jury found in favor of
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In 2019, a documentary film titled
Conviction was produced based on Deskovic's life by a Canadian filmmaker
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22:(born October 27, 1973) is an American attorney from Peekskill, New York known for freeing the
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71:. He attended public schools, including Peekskill High School. He was not popular at school.
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Albert Samaha, "Jury Awards
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During a months-long investigation, which included extensive interrogations, he made a
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Deskovic filed a federal civil rights suit against Putnam County and the state for
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447:"Calgary filmmaker battles injustice with features about wrongfully convicted"
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343:"Playing Down DNA Evidence Contributed to Wrongful Conviction, Review Finds"
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classmate, Angela Correa, who was 15 at the time of the murder.
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When
Jeffrey Deskovic and Sonia Sotomayor Crossed Paths
325:"DNA Evidence Frees a Man Imprisoned for Half His Life"
275:"DNA Evidence Frees a Man Imprisoned For Half His Life"
257:"An Innocent Man Speaks: PLN Interviews Jeff Deskovic"
401:"Vindicated by DNA, but a Lost Man on the Outside"
188:List of wrongful convictions in the United States
475:Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice website
207:https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.deskovic/about
521:American people wrongfully convicted of murder
361:"Report on the Conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic"
103:In 2006, the newly elected district attorney,
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516:Overturned convictions in the United States
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300:"INNOCENT MAN'S DNA PLEA NIXED BY DA PIRRO"
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382:"Life After Being Wrongfully Convicted"
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139:Deskovic attended college, receiving a
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273:Santos, Fernanda (21 September 2006).
69:North Tarrytown, in Westchester County
41:, but the DA's office, then headed by
323:Fernanda Santos (21 September 2006).
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67:Jeffrey Deskovic was born in 1973 in
45:, refused to accept his lay request.
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153:John Jay College of Criminal Justice
531:People wrongfully convicted of rape
151:in 2008 and a master's degree from
16:American man from upstate New York
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218:Seigel, Jessica (25 March 2021).
155:in 2013. He has also received a
536:Mercy College (New York) alumni
526:People from Peekskill, New York
399:Fernanda Santos (2007-11-25).
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48:In 2006, with support by the
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380:Marie Roser (2015-11-02).
233:10.1146/knowable-032421-1
74:On November 15, 1989 in
541:Mercy University alumni
220:"The truth about lying"
111:Exoneration and release
117:Leslie Crocker Snyder
57:wrongful imprisonment
28:Peekskill High School
20:Jeffrey Mark Deskovic
168:wrongful conviction
76:Peekskill, New York
428:2014-11-29 at the
406:The New York Times
347:The New York Times
329:The New York Times
279:The New York Times
145:behavioral science
121:Peter J. McQuillan
511:False confessions
480:Innocence Project
451:calgaryherald.com
436:, 24 October 2014
261:Prison Legal News
224:Knowable Magazine
141:bachelor's degree
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131:Aftermath
63:Biography
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