The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Another Appeal Rejected over a Technicality

Jul 20, 2009

The courts’ denial of Troy Davis’s appeal is certainly not the first time judges have upheld a conviction of an innocent person because their appeal was filed too late. Just ask Jeffrey Deskovic.

In 1990, Deskovic was convicted of the rape and murder of a classmate, Angela Correa. Deskovic, 16 at the time, signed a confession after long hours of questioning and false promises from the police.

Deskovic’s lawyer filed an appeal in 1997, after a DNA test proved his innocence. Two judges ruled that Deskovic’s lawyers had filed his appeal four days too late. Despite all efforts by the lawyers to explain that a court clerk had specified the deadline incorrectly, the judges rejected the appeal.

Who was one of the judges who dismissed the appeal of an innocent person falsely convicted? None other than Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice.