“If New York had the death penalty [when I was convicted] I would now be ashes in an urn in my parent’s living room.” -Bobby McLaughlin, convicted of murder in Brooklyn, exonerated and released after serving over 6 years.

Nationally, over 135 people have been released from death rows with evidence of their innocence. New York’s criminal justice system is not immune to the kinds of errors that have placed innocent men on death rows in other states. In fact, a scathing  Innocence Project Report, Lessons Not Learned details how New York leads the nation in wrongful convictions for murder, but lags behind when it comes making the necessary policy changes to prevent them from happening.

As of this writing, 32 people in New York have been exonerated after being convicted of serious crimes of violence and sentenced to long terms.

• In every one of these cases, all charges were dismissed. The purpose of the appellate process is to determine whether a defendant’s trial was fair and in accord with constitutional standards. It is not intended to independently rule on guilt or innocence. The exoneration of these men was possible only because of efforts of people working outside the appeals system. The Innocence Project, whose practice is limited to cases where DNA exists, gets thousands of requests for help each year and is only able to respond to a few of them.

• All these men fought lengthy battles for a reexamination of the evidence. There is no legal requirement for local prosecutors to agree to this.

How could this happen? Three case histories will give some insight into the ordinariness of the process and the people involved.

Jeffrey Deskovic: Convicted of murder, rape, weapons possession in 1991
“Jeffrey Deskovic was 17 when a jury found him guilty of murder in the Nov. 15, 1989, death of Angela Correa. The jury knew then that DNA evidence did not match Deskovic, but jury members convicted him based on testimony from a detective that Deskovic had confessed to the crime.” (Journal News, Sept 20, 2006)

About the confession

Deskovic, carrying out his own “investigation” and believing he was helping police, provided them with names and information about possible suspects. After being questioned by police on 8 eparate occasions, Deskovic agreed to a lie detector test, on the understanding that once he passed it, he could continue assisting the police. The test was done by a private company owned by a worker at the local sheriff’s office, who, a witness testified at trial, was told to “get a confession.” Deskovic was given coffee during the session, given coffee but no food and held in a tiny room, without a lawyer or parent. Between tests he was subjected to more police questioning.

Deskovic allegedly confessed after 6 hours, and 3 lie detector tests. One of his interrogators told him that he had failed the tests, and told Deskovic that he had had believed Deskovic guilty all along. DNA testing showed that semen in the victim’s rape kit did not come from Deskovic. Deskovic had been told that if DNA evidence did not point to him, he would not be charged with the crime. However, the District Attorney decided to pursue the case against Deskovic, relying on the confession.

Requests for new tests

“Local prosecutors had rebuffed Mr. Deskovic’s earlier requests for DNA tests using more sophisticated methodology.” (New York Post, Oct 15, 2006). Finally, in September, 2006, the new Westchester District Attorney, Janet DiFiore agreed. DNA test results proved that Deskovic was innocent of the crime and pointed to the actual killer. Mr. Deskovic’s indictment was thrown out and on September 20, he was released.

Douglas Warney: Convicted of murder in 1997, served 10 years
The body of William Beason was found in Rochester, in 1996. He had been stabbed multiple times. Douglas Warney, who knew Beason, was brought in by police for questioning. Warney, suffering from advanced AIDS, served 10 years for the crime.

About the confession “Warney was convicted in 1997 of the slaying. The case against him was largely based on a confession he gave in 1996. His lawyers contended that the admission was riddled with errors, and were the rambling of a man with an IQ of 68 who suffered from AIDS-related dementia. The confession did contain some facts consistent with the crime scene, and defense lawyers now argue that police must have given those facts to Warney then included them in the confession. Warney did know Beason and may have been familiar with Beason's city home, according to trial testimony.” (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 16, 2006)

Requests for DNA tests

Prosecutors had legally and successfully challenged requests made by the Innocence Project, in 2004, for DNA testing of the evidence. However, Michael Green, the Rochester District Attorney said that he made his own request to have DNA evidence tested in early 2005, because he thought Warney might have had an accomplice. In February, 2006, DNA evidence proved that Warney was innocent of Beason’s murder. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 16, 2006)

Alan Newton: Convicted of rape, robbery and assault in 1985, served 21 years
In the 2 days after the crime, and while she was hospitalized following surgery, the victim was shown nearly two hundred photographs, and chose Alan Newton’s. Several days later, the clerk at the convenience store from which the victim was abducted picked out Newton in a photo lineup, and, the next day, in a live lineup. At about the same time, police drove the victim from the hospital to view a lineup and she again identified Newton.

“Newton had tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to have the rape kit in his case tested for DNA, but with the help from the lawyers from the Innocence Project, Newton made one last request and the judge approved. The rape kit was located, and the DNA test conclusively excludes Newton as the rapist.” (Hannity and Colmes, July 13, 2006)

Newton’s 1994 request for DNA testing was turned down by the Court, because the victims’ rape kit was missing. Newton continued to pursue DNA testing. Finally in 2005, eleven years after Newton first asked for DNA testing, the Bronx District Attorney, acting at the request of the Innocence Project, instructed the Property Clerk to look for the kit again. Despite claims that previous searches had been thorough and that the kit had probably been destroyed, the Property Clerk found the rape kit exactly where the original evidence voucher said it was.

The criminal justice system is run by imperfect human beings. Mistakes are inevitable. But when a human life is at stake, there can be no margin for error. Even one mistake is intolerable

Most of the New York State exonerations involved DNA evidence. In the overwhelming majority of cases, DNA is not available for testing. Nationally, just 17 of the 135 exonerations were based on DNA evidence.