Lessons Not Learned - The Innocence Project

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An exPeRT CoMMIssIon’s PoWeRFUL CALL FoR ReFoRM A New York State Innocence Commission would review exoneration cases in order determine the causes of the wrongful conviction, identify patterns across multiple cases, and make recommendations to improve the criminal justice system. The closest such review of a wrongful conviction in New York was conducted by a commission that was assembled to look at just one case – the wrongful conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic in Westchester County. Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore created the commission in late 2006 to identify the underlying causes of Deskovic’s wrongful conviction and to make recommendations that can prevent future injustice. DiFiore appointed respected leaders in the criminal justice system – including judges, a former prosecutor and a defense attorney – to the commission. The members included retired state judges Leslie Crocker Snyder and Peter J. McQuillan, former Richmond County District Attorney William L. Murphy, and Richard Joselon, Supervising Attorney for the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau. The commission’s report was released in July 2007. 32 THe InnoCenCe PRoJeCT
FInDInGs oF THe CoMMIssIon The commission’s 35-page report outlines every aspect of Deskovic’s case – the police investigation, prosecution, defense, appeals and ultimate exoneration. The commission found that New York’s criminal justice system failed at every stage, and that the problems in Deskovic’s case result from systemic flaws that need to be remedied statewide. “We have reviewed the voluminous public record of the proceedings below, and we are persuaded that, from the outset and continuing at every stage thereafter, errors were made that propelled the case towards it unjust outcome,” the commission report said. “We do not catalogue these mistakes to assign fault or apportion blame. Rather, we attempt to analyze what went wrong for Jeffrey Deskovic in the hope that a broader understanding of his tragedy will help those who work in the criminal justice system take the steps necessary to protect others from his fate.” The commission identified specific problems that led to Deskovic’s wrongful conviction, including: CALL FoR ReFoRM • • Tunnel vision on the part of police and prosecutors “Jeffery Deskovic’s case provides a textbook illustration of tunnel vision in action,” the commission concluded. Police focused too early on Deskovic as the prime suspect and interrogated him “improperly.” Prosecutors failed to reassess the case when physical evidence emerged that appeared to exculpate Deskovic. Once Deskovic “confessed” during the improper interrogation, police stopped investigating other leads in the case and prosecutors failed to look critically at the evidence. Police also relied too heavily on a New York Police Department profile of the perpetrator, which ultimately proved inaccurate but steered police away from other leads. selective recording of Deskovic’s statements during interrogations In one four-hour interview with Deskovic, police recorded only 35 minutes of conversation because the tape recorder THe CoMMIssIon FoUnD THAT neW YoRK’s CRIMInAL JUsTICe sYsTeM FAILeD AT eVeRY sTAGe, AnD THAT THe PRoBLeMs In DesKoVIC’s CAse ResULT FRoM sYsTeMIC FLAWs THAT neeD To Be ReMeDIeD sTATeWIDe. 33
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 and 12: 18 Doug Warney - Rochester Convicte
Page 13 and 14: TRYInG To ReBUILD THeIR LIVes All o
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: THe LeARnInG Convictions, composed
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
Page 63 and 64: APPenDIx A from the defendants pres
Page 65 and 66: APPenDIx A brother’s moving busin
Page 67 and 68: APPenDIx A days or weeks. The bandi
Page 69 and 70: APPenDIx A While the case was being
Page 71 and 72: APPenDIx A watching television, he
Page 73 and 74: APPenDIx A The Office of the Chief
Page 75 and 76: APPenDIx A Deskovic’s alleged con
Page 77 and 78: APPenDIx A consistent” with Brown
Page 79 and 80: APPenDIx B APPenDIx B RePoRT on THe
Page 81 and 82: 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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