Global InformationJeffrey Mark Deskovic information
Jeffrey Mark Deskovic (born October 27, 1973)[1] is an American attorney from Peekskill, New York known for freeing the wrongly convicted. In 1990, at the age of 17, he was convicted of raping, beating, and strangling his Peekskill High School classmate, Angela Correa, who was 15 at the time of the murder.
During a months-long investigation, which included a extensive interrogations, he made a false confession that was immediately withdrawn, but became the basis for his conviction. He served 16 years, some in an adult "super max" as a minor, while maintaining his innocence. He requested post-conviction DNA testing, but the DA's office, then headed by Jeanine Pirro, refused to accept his lay request.
In 2006, with support by the Innocence Project, crime scene DNA testing led to Steven Cunningham, who was serving time for subsequent murder committed in the same fashion. Cunningham confessed to having committed the murder.
In 2014 a jury found in favor of Deskovic and awarded him $41.6 million in a federal civil suit against the county for wrongful imprisonment. Due to his pretrial settlement with the county, he was limited to receive $10 million, which he used to establish his foundation.
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