Today in the New York Times, Jennifer 8. Lee blogs on yesterday's testimony before the New York State Senate Democratic Task Force on Criminal Justice reform. Her piece begins, "There have been at least 56 wrongful convictions in New York State including those of Martin H. Tankleff and Jeffrey Mark Deskovic."
Accompanying the article is streaming video of a false confession given by a teenager named Frank Esposito. In his "confession," Esposito describes in detail how he was smoking by a barn and lit some hay on fire. He could see it glowing. He cries and apologies for burning down the barn and killing the horses inside. But none of it ever happened, as he was later acquitted when cellphone records proved he was nowhere near the stable when the fire took place. What wasn't captured on tape was the interrogation that led to the confession.
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