Rochester Man Wrong­fully Convicted of Rape Awarded Large Sum in Civil Lawsuit

A Rochester man wrongfully convicted in a 40-year-old rape case has been awarded $6.2 million.

Feddie Peacock, 64, was convicted of first-degree rape in 1976. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Michael Telesca denied the City of Rochester's attempts to have Peacock's civil lawsuit dismissed. 

In his ruling, Telesca said a reasonable jury could conclude a police officer in the case fabricated the confession. Peacock, who has a serious mental illness, was identified by the 24-year-old woman as her attacker. A police officer said Peacock confessed to the crime, but another officer later said he didn't hear a confession.

Peacock spent six years in prison before being released on parole in 1982. Twenty years later, DNA evidence showed Peacock was not the attacker. With the help of the Innocence Project and the Monroe County district attorney's office, he was exonerated in 2010.