Oliver Javonovic - False Accusation

Jovanovic, Oliver ; sexual assault; NRE: perjury/false accusation, no crime

[700:156]; 1st Dept. 12/21/99; reversed, due to evidentiary errors

"We conclude that the trial court's evidentiary rulings incorrectly applied the Rape Shield Law, and, as a result, improperly hampered [Jovanovic's] ability to present a defense..."

"The criminal charges arose from a date between Jovanovic and the complainant which took place after weeks of on-line conversations and e-mail correspondence. This appeal focuses on a number of statements made by the complainant in e-mails sent to Jovanovic. In those statements, she indicated an interest in participating in sadomasochism. [Jovanovic's] purpose in seeking to offer those statements in evidence was not to undermine complainant's character by demonstrating that she was unchaste. Rather, it was to highlight both the complainant's state of mind on the issue of consent, and his own state of mind regarding his own reasonable beliefs as to the complainant's intentions."

2006 WL 2411541; S.D.N.Y. 8/17/06; civil case

"The local tabloids closely followed Jovanovic's prosecution and generated huge volumes of coverage. The matter became known as the 'cybersex torture' case...[T]he Appellate Division...reversed his conviction and remanded for a new trial.

"Over the next 23 months, the [DA] offered Jovanovic several plea deals with no further jail time; first with a plea of guilty to a felony and later to a misdemeanor. Jovanovic refused to plead guilty, maintained his innocence, and insisted upon trial. On November 1, 2001, the [DA] moved to dismiss all charges; the motion was granted, and all the charges were dismissed with prejudice.

"Jovanovic institituted this [civil rights] action...alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution, malicious abuse of process and denial of his right to a fair trial by New York Cty Police Officer Milton Bonilla and former [ADA] Linda Fairstein* ...Specifically, [Jovanovic] alleges that Bonilla and Fairstein...fabricated evidence, gave false testimony, and gave damaging extrajudicial statements to the press in an effort to secure a conviction against him."

[* Linda Fairstein was also integral to the wrongful convictions of the 'Central Park Five'; see Antron McCray et al. below.]

"Jamie Ruzcek ...told Bonilla that Jovanovic had assaulted her for twenty hours...[She] provided a detailed and graphic statement of the incident, in which she alleged -- among other heinous acts -- that Jovanovic had hogtied her for nearly twenty hours, violently raped and sodomized her, struck her repeatedly with a club, severely burned her with candle wax, and repeatedly gagged her with a variety of materials.

"The physical evidence did not match Ruzcek's assertions. A comprehensive gynecological examination...found no bleeding, teeth marks, bruises, scratches, swelling, redness or burn marks, all of which would be expected if Ruzcek's account were true...Further, there was no forensic evidence to support Ruzcek's claims. No trace of Jovanovic's DNA was found on the victim, her clothing, or any of the undergarents she wore on the night of the alleged assault...No blood was found on any of the victim's clothes, no ligature marks upon her body, and no abrasions about her mouth...Hair and fiber tests showed no signs of a violent struggle or sexual assault.

"Ruzcek's allegations were questionable in other ways as well. She had given contradictory accounts of the alleged assault to Bonilla, 'changing critical facts every time she recounted the event.'... She waited four full days before seeking medical treatment, 'despite her claims that she experienced profuse bleeding, severe burns and intense pain.'...Moreover, Ruzcek had 'a history of making false sexual accusations, and in fact, had falsely accused her own father and uncle of sexual molestation,' and a week before filing her own complainat against Jovanovic, Ruzcek had encouraged an acquaintance to file a false rape complaint against a New York University student.

"Despite the gravity of Ruzcek's allegations, Bonilla waited a full nine days before attempting to question Jovanovic.

"Bonilla and several other police officers [went to] Jovanovic's apartment, searching for the items allegedly used in the assault... but no such items were ever recovered from [Jovanovic] or his apartment ...[T]wo separate investigative teams took photographs of Jovanovic's apartment -- photographs that revealed none of the items described by the alleged victim."

[One wonders whether, as was true of the Nickel case, the police here simply buried this photographic evidence, which was so devastating to the complainant's credibility.]

"After searching Jovanovic's apartment, Bonilla prepared police reports containing false and misleading information regarding Jovanovic's arrest and the evidence allegedly collected at his apartment ...He told prosecutors that he had observed incriminating evidence in [Jovanovic's] apartment, and that Jovanovic had 'conspired to obstruct the police at the time of the search, and had destroyed incriminating evidence prior to the search,' claims he knew to be false.

"Fairstein made 'highly inflammatory and prejudicial' remarks about Jovanovic to the press...Fairstein was quoted as saying: 'He terrorized this young woman to the point that she was too frightened to call the authorities until weeks after it happened.' 'He tied her to a chair, undressed her, and tortured her with sex toys and other objects for almost a full day'; '[H]e tortured and sexually abused the woman, burning her with candle wax, biting her, sexually assaulting her and threatening to dismember her as Jeffrey Dahmer, the serial killer, had done with his victims'; '[H]e was so prepared for this and carried it off so smoothly'; 'We believe this was not the first time he did something like this'; and 'We believe there are other victims.'

"While incarcerated at Rikers Island and later at state prisons, Jovanovic was repeatedly strip-searched and humiliated...Further, [he] was repeatedly threatened and attacked by fellow inmates...On one occasion, an inmate stabbed him in the neck and slashed his throat, as a result of which Jovanovic almost died."

[Some have taken to calling the person largely responsible for this as 'Linda UNFairstein.' ]

NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"On November 1, 2001, the prosecution dismissed the case, saying the victim did not want to testify again. Jovanovic was then released. Jovanovic later filed a civil rights lawsuit, but it was dismissed."