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Exonerates Man Convicted Of Rape And Murder DiFiore Plays Big Role In Jeff Deskovic's Release

by Tony Aiello

WHITE PLAINS (CBS) ― An innocent man walked free Wednesday after spending 15 years in prison.

"It still doesn't feel real, it hasn't really hit me at this point," Jeff Deskovic said. "I'm still waiting to wake-up, actually."

Added his mother, Linda McGarr: "I knew that Jeffrey was innocent and I'm very happy he's home. My faith sustained me through this ordeal."

During a brief hearing, Justice Richard Molea granted a motion to "utterly and entirely" vacate Deskovic's 1990 conviction for raping and murdering Angela Correa, a Peekskill teenager. Deskovic was just 17 when trial judge Nicholas Colabella sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison.

DNA evidence failed to link him to the crime, but the jury convicted him anyway. The prosecution argued that Deskovic was infatuated with Correa, and killed her to prevent her from seeing other young men.

The foreman at the time said "we believed the police," and the police had testified Deskovic confessed.

Deskovic said that "confession" was coerced, and came after seven hours of relentless interrogation.

"Believing in the criminal justice system, and being fearful for my safety, I told them what they wanted to hear, thinking it would all come out in the end," Deskovic said.

Instead, he went to prison, and spent years filing appeals and seeking help. Deskovic said his pleas to former Westchester District Attorney Jeannine Pirro, and to many others, were rejected.

Last year, the New York-based Innocence Project took his case, and convinced the new Westchester top cop, Janet DiFiore, to review the file.

DiFiore agreed the DNA from the Correa rape should be tested against samples from other offenders. The national DNA data bank, known as CODIS, was not available when Deskovic was tried in 1990.

"We knew that if you tested this and put it into a DNA databank, you could get a hit on a convicted offender who could be the real murderer. And that is exactly what happened," said Barry Scheck, a defense attorney who founded the Innocence Project.

DiFiore said the unnamed "real murderer" identified by the DNA match confessed on Monday, and investigators hope to formally charge him soon.

"We are very happy here today," said DiFiore. "This case really is about what our moral obligation is as prosecutors, and our focus on doing the right thing, and doing justice."

Deskovic, in prison for almost half his life, understandably had much to say after leaving court. He spoke for more than 40 minutes before taking questions from reporters.

Deskovic said he intends to sue for wrongful imprisonment, and will work to put his life back together.

"Prison is isolating, so I lost all of my friends," he said. "My family has become strangers to me."

Deskovic, who converted to Islam in prison, said he hopes to become a lawyer, or a psychotherapist.

But his immediate goal Wednesday afternoon was a good meal, mussels in fra diavolo sauce, at Graziella's Restaurant in White Plains.

It was his first meal with family in 15 years.