A Peekskill man who was released after spending 16 years in prison for rape and murder is taking aim at former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Jeffrey Deskovic was convicted in 1989 for the rape and murder of Angela Correa. Deskovic was just 17 when he was arrested. The DNA evidence collected at the crime in Peekskill didn't place Deskovic at the scene of Correa's death. A jury apparently convicted him based on a confession he says was coerced by police. A DNA database that was not available when the crime occurred proved his innocence and showed another man who is currently in prison committed the crime.

Upon his release, Deskovic says Pirro publicly proclaimed DNA could be used to free innocent people from prison, but for some reason she chose to ignore the DNA evidence in his case. While Pirro did not prosecute Deskovic?s case, he did appeal to her to reopen his case while she was district attorney. Pirro?s response was that a jury considered the DNA evidence and he was still convicted.

Pirro?s camp says the DNA technology that freed him was not available back in 1997 when Deskovic contacted her office. Pirro says she supports the development of that technology to exonerate people wrongly convicted. Some believe the political fallout from the case will hurt Pirro?s run for state attorney general.

Related Information DNA evidence frees Peekskill man after 16 years in prison