Faces of Wrongful Conviction: Anthony DiPippo

In 1994, when he was 18, Anthony DiPippo was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering at 12 year old girl in Putnam County, NY. DiPippo entered police's radar when a man who had been picked up by police for an unrelated drug charges said that a friend of his, DiPippo and four others, had committed the murder of the young girl.

Anthony DiPippo after he was released in 2016

Two years after the crime had been committed, DiPippo and his friend Anthony Krivak were arrested and convicted in separate trials. DiPippo's and Krivak's friends falsely testified that DiPippo and Krivak raped and murdered the 12 year old girl.

Throughout the trial, DiPippo and Krivak both maintained their innocence and denied any involvement in the crime. Nonetheless, they were both sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

In 2011, DiPippo filed an appeal stating that his attorney had a conflict of interest. DiPippo was granted a new trial that began in 2012. During this trial, two of the three friends who initially testified against him recanted their testimonies.

Around this same time, a man named Joseph Santoro told his cell mate that he raped and murdered the young girl. DiPippo's defense was not allowed to use Santoro's admission of guilt and in May of 2012, DiPippo was again convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Again in 2016, the New York Court of Appeals granted DiPippo a new trial. His third and final trial began in September 2016 and this time his defense was allowed to present Santoro's testimony that he did in fact murder the young girl.

In October of that year, DiPippo was acquitted and released. Andrew Krivak, however, remained in prison. Not until this past May has Krivak been granted a new trial, and even now after it has been proven that the two men are innocent of this crime the prosecution is appealing the ruling for a new trial.

It is hard to believe that such an injustice is possible, but it is. It is hard to think about Andrew Krivak having to remain behind bars even after his friend Anthony DiPippo has been released for the same crime, but that is the reality. The date for Krivak's new trial is not yet known.