Deskovic Foundation client Thomas Shafer was originally convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to serve five years of probation in 2012. Newly discovered evidence proved that the most valuable piece of jewelry he had been accused of stealing was, in fact, not stolen. On September 17, 2024, Thomas was exonerated of Grand Larceny, with all of the charges against him dismissed.
Read MoreDeskovic Foundation client Dieter Tejada was originally convicted of assault after he got into a fight as a high school senior in 2008. Dieter's claims of self defense were ignored, and faced with a possible maximum prison sentence of 10 years, he accepted a prosecution offer to plead guilty, and imprisoned for nine months. Subsequently, Dieter graduated from college, then law school, but even after passing his bar exam, had trouble being admitted to the bar due to the conviction. During this process, Dieter found discrepancies in the police reports of the incident. The Deskovic Foundation took Dieter on as a client, working with attorney Alexander Taubes. The Foundation found that significant exculpatory material had been removed from the original police reports, including that the person Dieter claimed attacked him had been diagnosed with a violent conduct disorder, tested positive for barbiturates and alcohol, and was given antipsychotic medication when treated after the incident. A prosecution witness was located that recanted and admitted that his original statement was false. As a result of these findings, attorney Alex Taubes was able to file an application on behalf of Dieter seeking an absolute pardon on actual innocence grounds, which was granted on September 6, 2023, finally exonerating Dieter after 15 long years.
Read MoreThe Foundation is happy to report that our client, Marc Douglas, was exonerated after almost 14 years of wrongful imprisonment on burglary and assault charges. The Foundation collaborated with the firm Hale & Monico towards Marc’s exoneration, referring the case to them and assisting in the process of obtaining of obtaining Marc’s release. Hale & Monico filed a motion for post-conviction relief in June 2019, based on Brady violations and actual innocence, and in May 2020, the Hon. David Zuckerman granted a hearing on those claims. Shortly thereafter, the Westchester District Attorney consented to vacate the conviction and dismiss the indictment, acknowledging that at any retrial a jury would have reasonable doubt regarding guilt.
Read MoreThe Foundation is happy to report that we have assisted seven of our clients in obtaining parole while they maintained their innocence. In general, when prisoners maintain their innocence at the parole board rather than express remorse and take responsibility, they are denied parole. Despite that, we have successfully assisted seven clients obtain parole, and an additional client was released on compassionate release, with his release application highlighting the ongoing review of his case by a Conviction Review Unit.
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