Daniel Lackey - False Confession

Lackey, Daniel; ; sexual assault; NRE: false confession, perjury/false accusation, no crime, inadequate legal defense, prosecutor misconduct, polie officer misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, misconduct in interrogation of exoneree

[827: 331]; 3rd Dept. 1/4/07; affirmed

"After a jury trial, [Lackey] was convicted...based upon his written confession and the female [supposed] victim's testimony that an assailant struck her several times, bit her, pushed her to the ground and repeatedly inserted a sharp stick into her vagina."

"[T]he arresting officer, Michael McCarthy, testified tha he investigated [Lackey] because [Lackey] had matched the description given by the victim..."

"[Lackey's] ineffective assistance of counsel claim is...without merit."*

[* And yet, the NRE lists inadequate legal defense as contributing to this wrongful conviction.]

[853:668]; 3rd Dept. 2/28/08; county court reversal (not in WL) affirmed due to alleged victim's subsequent conviction for filing a false instrument

"In August 2004, [Lackey] was convicted...in connection with a January 2003 incident...Thereafter, [he] learned that the victim falsely alleged a November 2004 sexual assault, resulting in her conviction for filing a false instrument."

"After the false report, the victim admitted to police that 'Lately, I don't know what is real and what is not real* anymore. This has been going on a couple times in the past. When this happens, I black out, and I am not really aware of what goes on around me. . .I heard voices.' At the hearing on [Lackey's] motion, the victim testified that she 'could have had a dream. . .I have had dreams where I have woken up from and I couldn't tell you if they were real or if they weren't real.* I have even acted out in my dreams.' She admitted that in the November 2004 incident she apparently cut herself repeatedly, then thought someone else had attacked her because she did not remember the incident and could not believe that she would harm herself in that manner. The victim had a history of depression, anxiety disorder and substance abuse problems."

[* In the Nickel case, 'Arthur' also admitted that he often had problems distinguishing reality from fantasy, and that he often mistaked dreams for reality.]

"Unlike a...deliberate[ly] false complant, a...false complaint made while subject to delusions or hallucinations does not question the victim's veracity, but rather whether her complaint was based in reality."

"Although [Lackey's] statement to police was strong evidence against him, he presented expert testimony that he was borderline mentally retarded and prone to suggestiveness..."

NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"In January 2003, a 27-year-old woman claimed that she was sexually assaulted by a stranger near the railroad tracks in Oneida, New York.

"The woman told police that her attacker was in his mid-40s, bearded and 5'11" tall. Based on her description, police developed a composite sketch and showed it to the staff at a drug and alcohol center that the victim had attended.

"The staff identified 28-year-old Dan Lackey, who had attended the center as well and had met the victim.

"Police brought Lackey in for questioning even though he was younger and taller than the victim's description and never had facial hair." "During the interrogation, he told police he was drinking with friends that night. After police threatened him and told him he could leave if he confessed, Lackey told them he had committed the crime.

"At trial in Madison County...Court, the defense presented evidence that Lackey had actually been at his job at Walmart that evening. The Walmart was located 15 to 20 minutes away from where the rape occurred, and time cards showed that Lackey punched out for a break at the time the victim said she was raped.

"DNA tests had been performed on saliva that was found on the woman's jacket, where she said the rapist had bitten her. Although the tests matched the saliva to the victim and excluded Lackey, his defense attorney failed to present that evidence to the jury.

"On May 21, 2004, the jury convicted Lackey..."

"After his conviction, Lackey's father hired Thomas Wiers, a private investigator...Wiers tracked down the victim's ex-boyfriend, who told him that the victim had falsely reported a rape three months after she said Lackey had raped her. In this second rape, she said her attacker stabbed her in the back.

"Wiers discovered that police had determined this second rape never happened by examining the angle and the depth of the knife wound and concluded that it was self-inflicted. The woman had subsequently admitted that rape never happened and that voices had told her to make the false report. Those voices, she told police at that time, had told her to make similar false claims in the past."