Posted on 12/10/2009 11:56:27 AM PST by dennisw
A construction worker who was convicted of a rape that never happened is officially a free man after the judge who had sentenced him to 20 years in prison today dismissed the charges against him — and apologized.
"This court had harsh words for you in imposing sentence" back in October 2006, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers told William McCaffrey.
"I want to convey my personal regret for having participated, albeit unknowingly, in this injustice," said Carruthers. "Given the startling turn of events, I now retract what I said about you."
READ: Fake-rape gal's tale a wicked plot to get attention
McCaffrey, 33, spent almost four years behind bars after Biurny Peguero Gonzalez accused him and two pals of raping her at knifepoint on a deserted street back in 2005.
Earlier this year, her guilty conscience got the best of her — and she admitted she’d made the entire tale up.
The soft-spoken McCaffrey, who was released on bail in September after new DNA evidence cast doubt on Gonzalez’s claims and she recanted, was thrilled to have his record cleared.
"I’m glad it’s over. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time," he said.
Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty to perjury earlier this week and is facing up to seven years in prison, was not in court for the hearing, but her lawyer, Paul Callan, was.
"She knows she sent an innocent man to prison," Callan said. "She wanted these charges to be dismissed and she’s very happy about it. She’s very happy Mr. McCaffrey is out."
McCaffrey had testified that he met Gonzalez in front of a restaurant in September 2005, and invited her to go to a party with him and some friends.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Link?
Four years? He should have been executed long before then. / s
Point well made. This of course is precisely why the Supremes don't allow capital punishment for rape. You can fake your own rape, but you can't fake you're own murder.
I do feel sorry for him for being imprisoned falsely for almost 4 years.
On the other hand, this does show once again why it isn't a good idea to pick up random girls in front of restaurants and take them "partying" with your friends.
How does "new" DNA evidence appear?
The perp got a conscience and admitted she lied?
I feel dizzy... hell just froze over... where’s the trick?
http://www.1010wins.com/Man-Cleared-after-NJ-Woman-Recants-Rape-Claim/5865015
Similar story.
Picture at link. Not worth 4 years with big bubba. Maybe a weekend at the county lockup.
“her guilty conscience got the best of her”
Um... Apparently only after the DNA evidence exhonerated her.
I say the guilty conscience BS is an appeal for leniency. Nothing more.
Well, you can, but you can't leave your body at the scene. That's a dead giveaway.
The bite mark on here shoulder was inflicted by one of her girlfriends.
The bite mark on here shoulder was inflicted by one of her girlfriends.
Black roots, 3”, not worth a weekend.
Good grief. I swear I don't understand this knee-jerk insistence on always blaming the victim. People meet other people in all sorts of situations... bars, restaurants, shopping malls, churches, at work... if we never interacted with strangers we wouldn't have any friends at all. He didn't do anything wrong.
Defense lawyer Glenn A. Garber later persuaded prosecutors to use new technology to retest DNA samples from an apparent bite mark on Peguero’s arm.
The initial tests were inconclusive. The new ones showed the genetic material not only wasn’t McCaffrey’s but came from at least two women, apparently friends of Peguero’s who fought with her.
Let me just toss this one out there.
Man rapes woman
He goes to prison
Woman falls on hard times.
Family offers her money to recant, saying nothing will happen to her.
She recants.
Police arrest her for perjury
She backs out of the recant, saying she did it for the money.
What happens to the rapist?
I feel dizzy... hell just froze over... where’s the trick?
Not only that
Now she is on trial for perjury
I'm not positive if the DNA test came after her confession but it looks like it. To confirm her recantation
After reading the provided link I don't see how there was ever a conviction in the first place.
I would think that there was a medical examination which would have shown there was no rape to begin with, maybe the article is lite on the details.
I think you mean it implicated her - it exonerated the guy in jail.
But thanks for making sense of this. I couldn't handle the development of a genuine guilty conscience in someone who did something this foul - it was wrecking my faith in human nature.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.