Jeffrey Descovic - False Confession

Deskovic, Jeffrey; murder, sexual assault; NRE: false confession, police officer misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence, misconduct in interrogation of exoneree; "OVERWHELMING"

Suggestibility issues

N4 [39] "[T]he accused was convicted in 1990 of a rape and murder he did not commit. Semen was found in the young victim's body, and testing determined that it was not supplied by Deskovic. Deskovic was convicted anyway, on the theory that the victim had previously had consensual sex with another. When he continued to maintain his innocence after [40] conviction, the authorities simply refused to check the DNA profile against available state and national databases to determine who supplied it. When a check was finally made in 2006, it was determined that the DNA was from a man who was convicted of another murder in 1994, and Deskovic was finally released."

R7 [fromFN59:] "It can only be guessed at why the Appellate Division denying relief did not even mention that DNA evidence excluded Mr. Deskovic.

"For many years thereafter, the Westchester County District Attorney, Jeanine Pirro,* refused to run the DNA profile from the semen sample through federal and state databases to try to identify the true perpetrator. Later, a new district attorney, Janet DiFiore, agreed to do so, resulting in a cold hit on an incarcerated murderer..."

[* Jeanine Pirro subsequently became a host on the Fox News Channel.]

G26 [57] "In November 1989, a high school classmate of 16-year-old Jeff Deskovic was raped, beaten and strangled in Westchester County, New York.

"Deskovic became a suspect because he seemed overly distraught at the victim's death, visiting her wake three times. Police spoke with Deskovic several times, and in January 1990, he agreed to a polygraph examination. Over a period of six hours, Deskovic was held in isolation, given three polygraph tests by an examiner who was instructed to 'get a confession,' and grilled by officers who told him that they knew he was guilty, that he had failed the lie detector test -- and that he could go home if he just told them what he had done.

"Eventually, Deskovic gave up and admitted, sobbing, that he killed the girl. Years later, he explained, 'I felt like my life was in danger. I didn't think they were going to stop until I told them what they wanted to hear.'"

A9 [1643] "Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Deskovic, a high school classmate [of the victim] variously described as a 'loner,' naive, and psychologically troubled, exhibited unusual interest in the ensuing police investigation. He made his own inspection of the crime scene, sketched diagrams of it, and volunteered theories of [1644] how the offense was committed to the police. In January 1990, at the conclusion of an eight-hour interrogation session [by 'investigator' Daniel Stevens ] that left him 'lying under a desk in a fetal position, sobbing uncontrollably,' Deskovic confessed to the murder. The interrogation session was not recorded.* Deskovic's admissions included details 'that the prosecution insisted could only have been known to the real perpetrator."

[* Nickel's interrogation session was not recorded either.]

[1645] "The crime scene DNA matched the DNA profile of Steven Cunningham, who was then serving a twenty-year to life prison sentence for murder.

"Steven Cunningham...[had] strangled [his second victim] more than three years after murdering [his first victim, the crime Deskovic was convicted of]...If Cunningham had not originally escaped prosecution for [his first] murder, 'Maybe [the second victim] would still be with us...'"

[607:957]; 2nd Dept. 2/14/94; affirmed

"[There was no] indication in the record that [Deskovic's]...statements...were precipitated by a coercive environment or police misconduct 'that could induce a false confession.'"

[Yeah. Sure.]

"[Deskovic (???) ] struck the victim over the head with a blunt object, and dragged her into a wooded area, where he beat, raped and strangled her."

[In reality, Deskovic did none of those things; Steven Cunningham -- the real, DNA-proven perpetrator -- did.]

[Police served pizza to Deskovic during the interrogation -- the same ploy used with Nickel. ]

"There was overwhelming evidence of [Deskovic's] guilt in the form of [his] multiple inculpatory statements, as corroborated by such physical evidence as the victim's autopsy findings."

[The latter details must have been fed to Deskovic by the police.]

['Justices' Vincent R. Balletta, Guy J. Mangano, William D. Friedmann, and Anita R. Florio signed off on this. (Balletta also claimed the evidence against Mark Denny [above] was 'overwhelming.')]

NRE synopsis (by the Innocence Project):

"On the afternoon of November 15, 1989, the 15-year-old victim went out after school in Peekskill, New York, to take pictures for a photography class. She never returned home. Her naked body was found by police dogs the morning of November 17, 1989. Her clothes and cassette player were recovered from the vicinity. She appeared to have been raped, beaten, and strangled."

"Jeffrey Deskovic...became a suspect because he was late to school the day after the victim disappeared."

"Police spoke with Deskovic eight times in December 1989 and January 1990. Deskovic had begun his own 'investigation' of the case, giving officers notes about possible suspects."

"Deskovic had been told before the alleged confession that if his DNA did not match the semen in the rape kit, he would be cleared as a suspect."

"[At trial, the] state argued that the semen had come from a consensual sex partner and that Deskovic killed the victim in a jealous rage."

"In January 2006, the Innocence Project took on Deskovic's case...In September 2006, the semen was matched to convicted murderer Steven Cunningham, who was in prison for strangling the sister of his live-in girlfriend.

"On September 20, 2006, Jeff Deskovic was released from prison when his conviction was overturned. Following an apology from the assistant district attorney, the court dismissed Deskovic's indictment on the grounds of actual innocence on November 2, 2006.

"Deskovic eventually was compensated $14.05 million from New York State, Westchester County, Westchester County Legal Aid, and Peekskill. Additionally, a federal jury awarded him $41 million in a civil lawsuit against Putnam County. However, a pre-trial agreement that ensured Deskovic a multi-million-dollar award but also limited his compensation, limited his actual award to $10 million. With some of the proceeds he established the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice.

"In May 2013, Deskovic received a master's degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In may 2019, Deskovic obtained a law degree from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in October 2020."

[All emphases added.]