The arrest came not because lab results returned positive, but because they brought him to Brewster, NY in Putnam County (outside their jurisdiction) for a phony polygraph exam. During the course of nearly 7 hours, the polygraphist invaded the minor’s personal space, raised his voice at him, and kept repeating the same questions over and over again. Additionally, Mr. Deskovic had been threatened with physical harm, and ultimately became afraid for his life. He was also falsely promised that if he confessed, he would not be arrested. Following many proclamations of innocence, he eventually made up a story based upon details supplied by the police, but then recanted this confession countless times. Needless to say, he was arrested.
Before trial, the DNA came back negative, meaning it didn’t match. To get around this, the prosecutor got the medical examiner to commit fraud by falsely reporting that he’d found evidence that the victim, Ms. Correa, had been sexually active, allowing the prosecutor to argue that she had consensual sex prior to being raped and murdered, explaining away the foreign DNA. To be clear, the prosecutor was willing to trash the victim’s reputation to make this wrongful assertion. The prosecutor even named another youth as the one whom the victim had been with, without bothering to offer proof, such as through DNA testing or calling the youth to testify.
On the other side, the public defender failed in his duties by not cross-examining the medical examiner, failing to establish any alibi, never explaining the DNA to the jury, or arguing for the possibility of a false confession. Making matters worse, the other young man the prosecution asserted had sex with the victim was also represented by the same office, preventing the defense from requesting a DNA test or calling him as a witness.
A year later, Mr. Deskovic was found guilty and sentenced to 15-to-life.
For a full government report, please click here.
