Man, 40, who was wrongly imprisoned for murder and rape of 15-year-old fellow high school student wins $41MILLION settlement

Jeffrey Deskovic has won a settlement $41,650,000 after he was wrongly convicted of raping and killing 15-year-old Angela Correa when he was 16

• Jeffrey Deskovic was convicted of raping and killing Angela Correa in 1991
• He was released in 2006 after DNA evidence pointed to another suspect
• Won lawsuit against Putnam County and investigator Daniel Stephens
• Mr Deskovic has been the public face of wrongful imprisonment since release

A man who was wrongly convicted of raping and killing a fellow high school student has won a $41,650,000 settlement.

Jeffrey Deskovic is pictured at 17 with his aunt,
moments before a jury wrongly convicted him of murder

Jeffrey Deskovic, 40, from Putnam County, New York, was jailed in 1991 after 15-year-old Angela Correa was found raped, beaten and strangled two years earlier.

Mr Deskovic won the lawsuit against Putnam County and sheriff’s investigator Daniel Stephens, which his lawyers have said is the largest sum awarded in US history.

Investigators had focused on Deskovic, who was 16 at the time, because he had turned up to school late that day - despite DNA found on the victim's body not being a match.

In 2006, he was cleared of the crime after DNA evidence taken from the victim pointed to another suspect - Steven Cunningham, who later confessed to the rape.

Mr Deskovic embraces MarryAnn Lubas, director of the
National Freedom March for the Wrongfully Convicted

At the time, he was given three lie detector tests over the course of a six-hour interrogation.

His wrongful conviction, and imprisonment, mostly in maximum security Elmira Correctional Facility in Chemung County, New York, came after a confession that was later found to have been coerced.

Since his release, Mr Deskovic has been a public face of wrongful conviction and imprisonment.

He has won numerous settlements since his release and set up The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, an organization dedicated to anti-wrongful conviction advocacy.

The city of Peekskill, New York paid him a $5.4 million settlement last year and previously received $1.8 million from the state of New York for the wrongful imprisonment.

He also won $6.5 million from Westchester County and used $1.5 million of it to start his foundation.

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