Lessons Not Learned - The Innocence Project

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23 Anthony Capozzi – Buffalo Convicted in 1987 of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse that happened in 1985 Sentenced to 11 to 35 years Age at conviction: 29 Served 20 years; exonerated in 2007 Factors leading to wrongful conviction: eyewitness misidentification Decades Lost that Can Never Be Regained 12 THe InnoCenCe PRoJeCT
TRYInG To ReBUILD THeIR LIVes All of these 23 people’s lives were shattered by wrongful convictions – and the lives of their friends, families, coworkers, neighbors and communities were impacted, as well. Each wrongfully convicted New Yorker has a difficult road ahead to rebuild a life. Four <strong>Innocence</strong> <strong>Project</strong> clients who were exonerated in the last year have shared their harrowing personal experience with state legislators in order to help reform the state’s criminal justice system. Knowing that they will never be able to regain the years of life they lost, they advocate for reforms that can prevent other people from enduring the same unimaginable injustice. Each one of the 23 New Yorkers exonerated through DNA was robbed of some of life’s most important experiences; following are brief summaries of what four of the most recent exonerees lost, and how they are trying to rebuild their lives: Alan newton, exonerated in 2006 In 1984, Bronx native Alan Newton was on trial for a rape he didn’t commit. He was 22 years old and working for a phone company at the World Trade Center when a rape victim picked his photo out of a lineup. He was convicted in 1985 and eventually served nearly half his life behind bars. His mother passed away shortly after his conviction, and he attended her funeral in shackles. Soon after his exoneration in July 2006, he enrolled at Medgar Evers College with support from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and is now close to getting his degree. He credits his large and supportive family with helping him stay positive throughout his long ordeal. scott Fappiano, exonerated in 2006 Scott Fappiano, who is now 45, has tried to pick up where he left off when he was incarcerated at 23. He’s moved back into the apartment he grew up in and has reconnected with a woman that he dated as a young man. Unavoidably, however, things have changed in the intervening years. His mother is ill with emphysema and his father died while he was on trial. He regrets not having the opportunity to raise a family. He also missed out on the oppor- 23 CAses AnD THeIR ConseqUenCes 13
Page 1 and 2: Lessons n o t learned neW YoRK sTAT
Page 3 and 4: exeCUTIVe sUMMARY Throughout New Yo
Page 5 and 6: Despite the large number of DNA exo
Page 7 and 8: 23 CAses AnD THeIR ConseqUenCes: A
Page 9 and 10: 8 Hector Gonzalez - Brooklyn Convic
Page 11: 18 Doug Warney - Rochester Convicte
Page 15 and 16: ReAL PeRPeTRAToRs CoMMIT ADDITIonAL
Page 17 and 18: THe Lessons THe Lessons CAUses oF W
Page 19 and 20: THe Lessons • The victim identifi
Page 21 and 22: THe Lessons • County rape in 1987
Page 23 and 24: THe Lessons • victed of the 1989
Page 25 and 26: THe LeARnInG THe LeARnInG LeGIsLATI
Page 27 and 28: THe LeARnInG Allow All of the Wrong
Page 29 and 30: THe LeARnInG cessful, New York shou
Page 31 and 32: THe LeARnInG Convictions, composed
Page 33 and 34: FInDInGs oF THe CoMMIssIon The comm
Page 35 and 36: ReCoMMenDATIons oF THe CoMMIssIon A
Page 37 and 38: ConCLUsIon time to research for evi
Page 39 and 40: APPenDIx A APPenDIx A FULL PRoFILes
Page 41 and 42: APPenDIx A ecution for DNA testing
Page 43 and 44: APPenDIx A process. On July 18, 199
Page 45 and 46: APPenDIx A The initial description
Page 47 and 48: APPenDIx A and if it was still avai
Page 49 and 50: APPenDIx A The following year, all
Page 51 and 52: APPenDIx A Eventually, the evidence
Page 53 and 54: APPenDIx A On December 19, 2002, on
Page 55 and 56: APPenDIx A On the night of April 19
Page 57 and 58: APPenDIx A His chance to test the e
Page 59 and 60: APPenDIx A defenses. Prosecutors al
Page 61 and 62: APPenDIx A suggested she had been r
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APPenDIx A from the defendants pres
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APPenDIx A brother’s moving busin
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APPenDIx A days or weeks. The bandi
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APPenDIx A While the case was being
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APPenDIx A watching television, he
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APPenDIx A The Office of the Chief
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APPenDIx A Deskovic’s alleged con
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APPenDIx A consistent” with Brown
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APPenDIx B APPenDIx B RePoRT on THe
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RePoRT on ConVICTIon oF JeFFReY Des
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RePoRT on ConVICTIon oF JeFFReY Des
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scientific evidence exonerated him.
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It is, of course, theoretically pos
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· · a murder that he did not comm
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wholly unsupported by anything poli
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investigative reports strongly sugg
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interrogations of Deskovic on Janua
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a confession. 44 During part of thi
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emained steadfast. Finally, on Janu
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Deskovic’s knowledge of Correa’
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As it was, the Grand Jury was denie
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he was aware, as the jury was not,
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On this record, the trial judge may
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without his attorney. 112 There is
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Court’s Mid-trial Loss of Evidenc
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arrested. District Attorney DiFiore
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occasions a voice tape recorder was
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The Innocence Project was founded i
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Lessons Not Learned - The Innocence Project

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