Lessons Not Learned - The Innocence Project

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Age at conviction: 34 Served 2 years; exonerated in 2000 Factors leading to wrongful conviction: eyewitness misidentification James O’Donnell was convicted in 1998 of attempted sodomy and second degree assault. The victim had entered a park in Staten Island in May 1997 for her daily walk. She noticed that she was being followed by a man. She turned to walk the other direction but he continued to follow her. He then accosted and assaulted her, throwing her down, choking her, and demanding that she come with him. The victim fought back with her hands, leading to the assailant biting her left hand. The assailant then took out his penis, at which point the victim passed out. The victim was found by a passerby, who contacted the police. She was then taken to a medical center, where she gave the police an initial description and helped them compose a sketch. The description of the assailant and his clothing were published in a local paper. A local resident contacted the police, informing them that he knew a man who fit the description, including a fringed leather jacket, and who had been seen in and near the park where the crime occurred. The investigating detective then obtained a photo of O’Donnell, placed it in a photo lineup, and showed it to a witness who had been in the park that day. She stated that the man she saw “looked like” the man in the photo of O’Donnell. A friend she had been with in the park was not available to view the array. The witness later identified O’Donnell in a live lineup. Her friend, when viewing the same live lineup, failed to pick O’Donnell. The victim also identified O’Donnell in the photo array and again in a live lineup. O’Donnell presented an alibi, which was corroborated by his girlfriend (now wife) and her son. They both testified that O’Donnell was at home with them the morning the crime occurred. Based on the eyewitness identification, however, the jury convicted O’Donnell and he was sentenced to three and a half to seven years in prison. A year after the crime, O’Donnell’s Legal Aid attorney on appeal, Lori Schellenberger, uncovered a police report indicating that a sexual assault evidence collection kit had been prepared by a nurse at the medical center. Included in that kit was a paper towel used to swab the bite wound on the victim’s hand and fingernail scrapings. Schellenberger asked prosecutors if the evidence had been tested 46 THe InnoCenCe PRoJeCT
APPenDIx A and if it was still available for testing. The kit was unearthed and, with the cooperation of the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, sent to the Office of the Medical Examiner of the City of New York. The Medical Examiner’s Office inspected and inventoried the evidence before shipping it to Forensic Science Associates. FSA found male DNA in the swabs taken from the bite mark as well as in the fingernail scrapings. Significantly, the male DNA profiles from both samples matched each other. James O’Donnell was excluded as the contributor of this male DNA, thus proving that he did not bite the victim nor was scratched by her. He could not have been her assailant. Based on the results of DNA testing, the District Attorney’s Office agreed to release O’Donnell in April 2000. Replicate testing was conducted by the Medical Examiner’s Office later that year with the same results. In December 2000, O’Donnell’s conviction was formally vacated. 8. Hector Gonzalez – Brooklyn Convicted in 1996 of a murder that happened in 1995 Sentenced to 15 years to life Age at conviction: 18 Served 5.5 years; exonerated in 2002 Factors leading to wrongful conviction: eyewitness misidentification Hector Gonzalez was arrested in December of 1995 and charged with murder. More than five years later, DNA testing proved crucial in establishing his innocence and securing his release. The victim was killed during a fight outside of a night club. At trial, prosecutors presented one eyewitness that placed Gonzalez at the scene of the fight but the witness did not identify him as the killer. Serological testing revealed six blood stains on Gonzalez’s pants. Five of those stains revealed a blood group marker that is shared by more than half of the population of New York City. On this evidence, Gonzalez was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison. A subsequent investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District into the activities of the Latin Kings, including this murder, produced testimony that Gonzalez was not involved in 47
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 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: APPenDIx A The initial description
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
Page 83 and 84: RePoRT on ConVICTIon oF JeFFReY Des
Page 85 and 86: scientific evidence exonerated him.
Page 87 and 88: It is, of course, theoretically pos
Page 89 and 90: · · a murder that he did not comm
Page 91 and 92: wholly unsupported by anything poli
Page 93 and 94: investigative reports strongly sugg
Page 95 and 96: 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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