William McCaffrey - Kidnapping - perjury
McCaffrey, William ; sexual assault, assault, kidnapping; NRE: perjury/false accusation, no crime
2013 WL 494025; S.D.N.Y. 2/7/13; civil suit
"On the night of September 17, 2005, Biurny Peguaro ...and four of her friends were out for drinks at a club in upper Manhattan...At approximately 4:00 a.m., they left the club and drove to a nearby restaurant...While Peguaro and one of her friends, Auro Pujols...waited in the car, another vehicle containing [McCaffrey] and his friends pulled up next to them...After a brief exchange, Peguaro and Pujols agreed to accompany [McCaffrey] and his friends to another club, whereupon [McCaffrey] entered Peguaro's car...Peguaro then began to drive, with Pujols and [McCaffrey] as passengers...However, when Peguaro started swerving, likely from intoxication, Pujols exited the vehicle, and [McCaffrey] entered the driver's seat...[McCaffrey] then drove to a parking garage, where he and Peguaro got into his friends' van and drove away in search of another club.
"Meanwhile, Pujols returned to the restaurant and told her group of friends that Peguaro was 'still in the car and [that] there was a guy in there.'...Although Pujols stayed at the restaurant, by the time she exited the restaurant, her friends were already outside...One of her friends, Maria Sosa...attempted to call Peguaro, who did not answer the call...After five minutes passed, Sosa called again, and when Peguaro answered, she was crying...Thereafter, Sosa spoke to a male who was with Peguaro, and the male told Sosa that they were 'taking Peguaro back.'...Sosa then called again, and when Peguaro began crying again, one of the males with Peguaro got on the phone and told Sosa that they were somewhere in the Bronx.
"Sosa and her friends then hailed a cab and went to that location, but Peguaro was nowhere to be found...Sosa again called Peguaro's phone, and a male with Peguaro answered...Sosa then told the male that she was going to call the police and, thereafter, did so...After Sosa called the police, one of Peguaro's friends -- Orlando Botasce -- learned that Peguaro was at a parking garage...The cabdriver then took Peguaro's four friends to the garage where Peguaro's car had been left...There, after attempting to find Peguaro for somehwhere between forty-five and ninety minutes, Pujols and Peguaro's friends found Peguaro inside the car, visibly shaken, shivering, and crying hyterically.
"Although the exact timing is disputed, while the group was still in the parking garage, there was a physical altercation between Peguaro and Pujols, witnessed by at least one garage attendant, Pelagio Delacruz...and Peguaro's other friends, who pulled Peguaro off Pujols...[McCaffrey] alleged that the fight was so violent that the car's windshield was damaged...Immediately after the fight, Peguaro claimed that she had been raped by [McCaffrey] and his friends, at which point police were called to the scene...The officers tried to question Peguaro at the garage but were unable to obtain any information from Peguaro because she was upset and would not talk to them.
"Peguaro was taken to the hospital...The nurse observed a bite mark on Peguaro's shoulder, and Peguaro said that one of her alleged rapists had bitten her..."
"Evidence that [McCaffrey] was in fact innocent surfaced two years [after he was convicted]...[McCaffrey's] counsel sought and obtained further testing of a dried saliva secretion taken from the bite mark on Peguaro's shoulder...The DNA analysis indicated that the sample came from a female...Then...Peguaro recanted her accusations against [McCaffrey], first in a confession to her priest and then to the [DA's] office."
NRE synopsis (by Stephanie Denzel):
"In September, 2006, a 22-year-old...woman accused 28-year-old William McCaffrey of raping her on the way to a party. She had bruises and bitemarks on her shoulder, but there was no other physical evidence of rape.
"Based on her testimony...a jury convicted McCaffrey of rape, kidnapping, felony assault, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a weapon in October 2006. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
"In 2008, DNA testing showed that saliva from the bitemarks on the supposed victim came from a female. Nonetheless, the [DA] refused to support MCCaffrey's request to vacate his conviction.
"In 2009, the supposed victim confessed that she had fabricated the rape story because her friends were angry with her for stranding them after she went off to a party with McCaffrey. She said the bruises and bitemarks came from a physical altercation with her friends.
"McCaffrey's attorney, Glenn Garber, founder of the Exoneration Initiative, filed a motion to vacate his conviction, and he was released on bail in September 2009.
"In December 2009, the trial court vacated McCaffrey's conviction and dismissed the charges. That same month, the [supposed] victim pled guilty to perjury charges* for the false accusation, and in February 2020, she was sentenced to 1-to-3 years in prison." [*We are unaware of any other person who made a (deliberately) false sex offense accusation who was subsequently convicted of perjury.]
"In October 2012, McCaffrey settled a claim filed with the New York Court of Claims for $425,000. He also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the [NYPD] and agreed to a $700,000 settlement in January 2015.
"McCaffrey, who had been diagnosed with [PTSD], died on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018."
[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]
