Working the Other Side
While still a third-year law student, Mr. Deskovic has founded The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, a non-profit organization with the dual mission of freeing the wrongfully imprisoned and pursuing policy changes to prevent such injustices as he lived through.
Mr. Deskovic is a year out from being an attorney, but that has not stopped him from freeing 7 innocent victims. They are:
- William Lopez: 23 ½ years for murder
- William Haughey: 8 years, 4 months for arson that turned out to be an electrical fire
- John Whitfield: 25 years for murder. Mr. Whitfield is not yet exonerated, but was paroled while claiming his innocence with the help of The Deskovic Foundation
- Ronald Biavachi: 18 years for rape. Mr. Biavachi is not yet exonerated, but was paroled while claiming his innocence with the help of The Deskovic Foundation
- Lorenzo Johnson: 21 ½ years for murder. Mr. Johnson was exonerated after 16 ½ years, and 4 months later the US Supreme Court reinstated the conviction. During the subsequent fight to free him, Attorney General Kathleen Kane promised Johnson that if the conviction was overturned again, it would be appealed, meaning he would remain in prison. Along with this, he was offered a plea deal that would allow him to go free immediately so long as he didn’t contest the charges, which is called a nolo contendere. Given the choice between guaranteed freedom or guaranteed time, he took the plea.
- Angel de la Cruz: 25 years for murder. Mr. de la Cruz is not yet exonerated, but was paroled while claiming his innocence with the help of The Deskovic Foundation.
- Amer Zada: 38 years for murder and sexual abuse. Mr. Zada is not yet exonerated, but was paroled while claiming his innocence with the help of The Deskovic Foundation.
Jeffrey Deskovic speaks on the Upper West Side – New York, NY – Mar 16, 2012 (credit: Marla Diamond / WCBS 880)
