Jeffrey Deskovic, Wrongfully Convicted New Yorker, Wins $6.5M Settlement

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A New York man who wrongfully served 16 years in prison has won a $6.5 million settlement.

Jeffrey Deskovic was released from prison in 2006 after DNA linked the 1989 murder of a Peekskill High School classmate to another man.

He was exonerated at age 33.

Deskovic filed a lawsuit in 2007 accusing the police and medical examiner of fabricating evidence that led to his conviction.

The 37-year-old Deskovic will receive $4 million this year and $2.5 million in 2012. His mother, who was a plaintiff in the suit, will receive $250,000.

The settlement was unanimously approved by the Westchester County board of legislators late Monday.

Comments

[holyghostie]

07:31 AM on 04/14/2011

The law enforcement people who put him in jail should have to pay too either with their careers or their money.

[moogaloog]

12:40 AM on 04/14/2011

damn. good for him. the state should also pay for all the therapy and career training he's going to need.

[PlayTOE]

09:30 PM on 04/13/2011

16 years = 6 million ?
It should be 16 million, (i million per year) and perhaps that should be doubled for the years spent in prison after the state authorities had proof he was innocent.

[GirlInNYC]

09:23 PM on 04/13/2011

Good. He'll need it to survive since all of that time has robbed him of a career. And I'm sure that while things are being cleared up, he still has a conviction on his record.

[calypsolouie]

07:45 PM on 04/13/2011

Its just tax money there is plenty where that came from

[Susan Shaffer]

05:33 PM on 04/13/2011

16 years in gaol?
dna has been used for years now by the police and courts to prove innocence or guilt

[Marcus Dion]

10:32 PM on 04/13/2011

"dna has been used for years now by the police and courts to prove innocence or guilt "

Scary fact:

In almost every situation where someone spent time in prison for crimes they did not commit, DNA was used to convict them. What's that tell you? DNA does not lie, which means the system of analysis is flawed. Therefore it seems as though it should not be used to definitively put people away and/or put them to death if we can't even trust that the match is accurate.