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'{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{short description|1989 crime involving the beating and rape of a jogger in New York City}} {{Redirect|Central Park Five|the 2012 documentary film|The Central Park Five|the 2019 miniseres|Central Park 5 (miniseries)}} {{redirect|Central Park jogger|the book|I Am the Central Park Jogger|jogging in Central Park|Central Park (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}} {{Infobox event | title = Central Park jogger case | image = | image_size = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | english_name = | date = {{start date|1989|4|19}} | time = 9–10 p.m. ([[Eastern Standard Time (North America)|EDT]]) | duration = 1 hour | place = [[Central Park]], New York City | coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|region:XXXX_type:event|display=inline,title}} --> | also known as = | cause = | first reporter = | filmed by = | participants = | outcome = | reported injuries = Trisha Ellen Meili (and other park-goers) | inquiries = | arrests = | suspects = | accused = Five teenagers, each of whom pleaded not guilty | convicted = All five were convicted in 1990 of various charges | charges = {{bulleted list|Assault|Robbery|Riot|Rape|Sexual abuse|Attempted murder}} | verdict = guilty; sentences ranged from 5–10 to 5–15 years in prison | note = | convictions = Five convicted teenagers served between 6 and 14 years in prison; four appealed their convictions unsuccessfully.{{when|date=June 2019}}<br /> After another man was identified as the rapist, in 2002 these five convictions were vacated; the state withdrew the charges. | litigation = The five men sued for discrimination and emotional distress; the city settled in 2014 for $41&nbsp;million. | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}}, use for link to event website; displays as Website: example.com --> }} The '''Central Park jogger case''' was a criminal case based on the [[assault]] and [[rape]] of Trisha Meili, a [[White Americans|white]] woman who was jogging in the park, and attacks on eight other persons in the [[North Woods (Central Park)|North Woods]] of [[Manhattan]]'s [[Central Park]] on the night of April 19, 1989. The attack on Meili resulted in her being in a coma for 12 days. Meili was a 28-year-old investment banker. The next year ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the attack on her as "one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s".<ref name="nytimes.com2">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/nyregion/smart-driven-woman-overcomes-reluctance.html|title='Smart, Driven' Woman Overcomes Reluctance|date=July 17, 1990|work=The New York Times|first=M. A. |last=Farber}}</ref> Attacks in Central Park that night were allegedly committed by around 30 teenagers, and police attempted to apprehend suspects. Four [[African Americans|African American]] teenagers and one [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic American]] teenager were taken into custody. After lengthy interrogations, the five teenagers were tried variously on charges of assault, robbery, riot, rape, sexual abuse, and attempted murder relating to the attack on Meili and others. Their prosecution was based primarily on confessions which they made during police interrogations, which in some cases proceeded without parents or counsel present. They each later withdrew these confessions, pleaded not guilty, and refused plea deals. [[DNA evidence|DNA]] from [[semen]] samples found on, and close to the victim, did not match any of the accused, a fact which became known during the first trial. The five teenagers were convicted in 1990 by juries in two separate trials: three were tried in one trial and two in the other. Subsequently known as the '''Central Park Five''', they received sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years. Four of the convictions were appealed,{{when|date=June 2019}} and the convictions were affirmed by appellate courts. The defendants served between 6 and 13 years in prison. Five other defendants were convicted for assaults or crimes against other victims that night.<ref name="thedailybeast.com"/> In 2001, Matias Reyes, a convicted murderer and serial rapist who was in prison, confessed to raping the jogger. His DNA matched samples found on and near the rape victim, and there was other confirmatory evidence. He said he committed the rape alone.<ref>"The verdict", ''ABC Nightline,'' December 3, 2002</ref> At the time of his confession, Reyes was already serving a [[life sentence]] for other crimes. He was not prosecuted for raping Meili, because the [[statute of limitations]] had passed by the time he confessed. In 2002, [[Robert Morgenthau]], [[District Attorney]] for [[New York County]], recommended that the convictions of the five men related to charges for the assault and rape of Meili and the attacks on others, be [[Vacated judgment|vacated]]. In this legal position, the parties are treated as though no trial has taken place. Their convictions were vacated in 2002, and the state withdrew all charges against them. In 2003 the five [[exonerated]] men sued New York City for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination, and emotional distress. Under Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]], the city refused to settle the suits for a decade, because the city's lawyers believed that the city could win a court case. After [[Bill de Blasio]] was elected as mayor, he supported settling the case; the city settled with the five plaintiffs for $41&nbsp;million in 2014. As of December 2014, the five men were pursuing an additional $52&nbsp;million in damages from New York State in the [[New York Court of Claims]]. == Attacks == [[File:Central Park May 2019 80.jpg|thumb|left|[[North Woods (Central Park)|North Woods]], one of several places where crimes were reported]] At 9 p.m. on the night of April 19 1989, a group of more than 30 teenagers who lived in [[East Harlem]] entered [[Manhattan]]'s [[Central Park]] at an entrance in [[Harlem]], near Central Park North.<ref name="dwyer.flynn">{{cite web|last1=Dwyer|first1=Jim|last2=Flynn|first2=Kevin|url=http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/dnabook/NY-HOW%20CENT%20PK%20CASE%20COLLPSD.1st |title=New Light on Jogger's Rape Calls Evidence Into Question|work=New York Times|date=December 1, 2002}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051718/http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/dnabook/NY-HOW%20CENT%20PK%20CASE%20COLLPSD.1st|date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> They committed several attacks, assaults, and robberies in the northernmost part of the park.<ref name="Morgenthau" /><ref name="nytimes.com3">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/21/nyregion/youths-rape-and-beat-central-park-jogger.html|title=Youths Rape and Beat Central Park Jogger|date=April 21, 1989|work=The New York Times}}</ref> At 1:30 that night, a white woman jogger was found in the park, pulled off the path and badly beaten, and later revealed to have been raped. ''The New York Times'' later characterized the attack on the jogger as "one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s".<ref name="nytimes.com2" /> According to a police investigation, the main suspects were gangs of teenagers who would assault strangers as part of an activity that became known as "wilding". New York City detectives said the term was used by the suspects when describing their actions to police.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours|last=Pitt|first=David E.|date=April 22, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|quote=The youths who raped and savagely beat a young investment banker as she jogged in Central Park Wednesday night were part of a loosely organized gang of 32 schoolboys whose random, motiveless assaults terrorized at least eight other people over nearly two hours, senior police investigators said yesterday. Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo, who said the attacks appeared unrelated to money, [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], drugs or alcohol, said that some of the 20 youths brought in for questioning had told investigators that the crime spree was the product of a pastime called ''wilding.''}}</ref> This account has been disputed by some journalists, who say that it originated in a police detective's misunderstanding of the suspects' use of the phrase "doing the wild thing", lyrics from rapper [[Tone Lōc]]'s hit song "[[Wild Thing (Tone Lōc song)|Wild Thing]]".<ref name="Voice">Cooper, Barry Michael (May 9, 1989) "The Central Park Rape" in ''[[The Village Voice]]''.</ref><ref name="NRO">{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-goldblatt121602.asp|title=Certainties and Unlikelihoods: The Central Park Jogger, 2002|last=Goldblatt|first=Mark|date=December 16, 2002|work=[[National Review]]|access-date=August 21, 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20021222182357/http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-goldblatt121602.asp|archivedate=December 22, 2002|deadurl=yes|quote=On the night of April 19, 1989, just after 9 o'clock, it is certain, absolutely certain, that Kevin Richardson, 14, Raymond Santana, 14, Yusef Salaam, 15, Antron McCray, 15, and Kharey Wise, 16, ran amok for a half-hour across a quarter-mile stretch of Central Park—chasing after bicyclists, assaulting pedestrians, and (in two separate incidents) pummeling two men into unconsciousness with a metal pipe, stones, punches, and kicks to the head. The teens later confessed on videotape to these attacks—which they couldn't have known about unless they had participated. As recently as this year, Richardson and Santana again acknowledged their roles in these crimes.|authorlink=Mark M. Goldblatt}}</ref> Some of the 30 teenagers attacked and beat people as they moved south, on the park's East Drive and the 97th Street transverse, between 9&nbsp;pm and 10&nbsp;pm.<ref name="dwyer.flynn"/> Within the [[North Woods (Central Park)|North Woods]], between 102nd and 105th streets, they attacked several bicyclists, hurled rocks at a cab, and attacked a pedestrian, whom they robbed and left unconscious.<ref name="dwyer.flynn"/><ref name="prenhall.com" /> A schoolteacher out for a run was severely beaten and kicked, between 9:40 and 9:50.<ref name="dwyer.flynn"/> He was hit in the back of the head with a pipe and stick, knocking him briefly unconscious.<ref name="dwyer.flynn"/><ref name="nymag.com" /><ref name="prenhall.com" /><ref name="google.com" /> A police officer testified that the teacher was bleeding so badly he "looked like he was dunked in a bucket of blood".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19891012&id=lLgiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M7UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2686,2825845|title=Three Men Assaulted on Evening of 'Wilding'|date=October 12, 1989|work=Beaver County Times}}</ref> Five suspects were later convicted on these charges.<ref name="thedailybeast.com"/> === Assault on Trisha Meili === {{Maplink|frame=yes|frame-align=right|frame-width=300|frame-height=300|frame-lat=40.794525|frame-long=-73.958249|zoom=14|type=point|coord={{coord|40.795|-73.958}}|text=Map of North Woods in Central Park, showing the approximate location where Trisha Meili was found after being assaulted}} Trisha Meili was going for a regular run in Central Park shortly before 9&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="nytimes.com3" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesleader.com/archive/206239/stories-lccc-grads-hear-healing-story-from-central-park-jogger94247|title=LCCC grads hear healing story from Central Park jogger|first=Camille|last=Fioti|date=May 28, 2010|work=Times Leader|accessdate=December 10, 2017}}</ref><ref name="prenhall.com">{{cite web |title=Affirmation in response to motion to vacate judgment of conviction |url=http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/13023/13335893/downloadables/NYDA%20motion%20in%20Jogger%20case.pdf |author=Nancy E Ryan|publisher=Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York|date=December 5, 2002}}</ref> While [[jogging]] in the park, she was knocked down, dragged or chased nearly {{convert|300|ft|m}}, and violently assaulted.<ref name="dwyer.flynn" /> She was raped and almost beaten to death.<ref name="stephenrobinson">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3593471/She-was-so-badly-beaten-the-priest-administered-last-rites.html|title=She was so badly beaten, the priest administered last rites|first=Stephen |last=Robinson|date=April 27, 2003|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> About four hours later at 1:30&nbsp;a.m., she was found naked, gagged, and tied, and covered in mud and blood. Meili was discovered in a shallow ravine in a wooded area of the park about 300 feet north of a path called the 102nd Street Crossing.<ref name="dwyer.flynn" /><ref name="stephenrobinson" /><ref name="nymag.com" /><ref name="google.com1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=McefY1H8DjIC&pg=PT155&lpg=PT155&dq=%22central+park+jogger%22+%22last+rites%22&source=bl&ots=6rmxB_OmAt&sig=MBoEJlS6B1sLlMgtTUTSoNiQlX4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qyL2VNDQJqW0sAS-yoKABA&ved=0CFIQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22central%20park%20jogger%22%20%22last%20rites%22&f=false|title=The Survivors Club|first=Ben |last=Sherwood}}</ref> The first policeman who saw her said: "She was beaten as badly as anybody I've ever seen beaten. She looked like she was tortured."<ref name="cnn.com1">{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/03/lklw.00.html|title=CNN Larry King Weekend; Encore Presentation: Interview With Trisha Meili|date=May 3, 2003|publisher=CNN}}</ref> The young woman was comatose for 12 days.<ref name="post-gazette.com1">{{cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2005/11/23/Victim-in-Central-Park-Jogger-case-brings-her-lessons-to-high-school/stories/200511230379|title=Victim in 'Central Park Jogger' case brings her lessons to high school|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref> She suffered severe [[hypothermia]], severe brain damage, Class 4 (the most severe) [[hemorrhagic shock]], [[blood loss|loss]] of 75–80 percent of her blood, and [[internal bleeding]].<ref name="post-gazette.com">Carpenter, Mackenzie, (March 29, 2003). [http://old.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030329joggerreg3P3.asp "Central Park jogger writes book about her life since attack; 'How the hell did I survive?'"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''</ref><ref name="usatoday.com">{{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-06-28-meili-cover_x.htm|title=There's a recipe for resilience|work=USA Today}}</ref><ref name="google.com1" /><ref name="post-gazette.com1" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1989-04-25/news/26142811_1_comatose-woman-kharey-wise-jogger|title=Raped N.Y. Jogger Still in Coma Woman Was Stabbed 5 Times in Head Fighting Teen Attackers|work=Philadelphia Daily News}}</ref> Her [[human skull|skull]] had been [[skull fracture|fracture]]d so badly that her left eye was dislodged from its [[eye socket|socket]], which in turn was fractured in 21 places, and she suffered as well from facial fractures.<ref name="post-gazette.com" /><ref name="usatoday.com" /><ref name="google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzs4AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT48&dq=%22central+park+jogger%22++%22paramus%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UDb1VPrRHKThsAT_hYLwAQ&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22central%20park%20jogger%22%20%20%22paramus%22&f=false|title=The Flipside|first=Adam J. |last=Jackson}}</ref> The initial medical prognosis was that Meili would succumb to her injuries and die.<ref name="post-gazette.com" /> She was given [[last rites]].<ref name="usatoday.com" /> The police initially listed the attack as a probable homicide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19891129&id=7DkdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4qUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6947,9970162|title=Raped, beaten Central Park Jogger back on job|work=The Tuscaloosa News}}</ref> Doctors thought that she might remain in a permanent coma due to her injuries. She came out of her coma 12 days after her attack, and spent seven weeks in [[Metropolitan Hospital]] in [[East Harlem]]. When she initially emerged from her coma, she was unable to talk, read, or walk.<ref name="usatoday.com" /><ref name="stephenrobinson" /> In early June, she was transferred to Gaylord Hospital, a long-term [[acute care]] center in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]], where she spent six months in rehabilitation.<ref name="post-gazette.com" /><ref name="nytimes.com1">{{cite web|url=http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/central-park-jogger-still-running-20-years-later/|title=Central Park Jogger Still Running 20 Years Later|last=Parker-Pope|first=Tara|date=April 20, 2009|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="post-gazette.com1" /> She was first able to walk again in mid-July.<ref name="oprah.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Oprah-Interviews-the-Central-Park-Jogger|title=Oprah Interviews the Central Park Jogger|publisher=Oprah.com}}</ref> She returned to work eight months after the attack.<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/central-park-jogger-recalls-attack-happy-article-1.364919 "Central Park Jogger recalls nothing of attack, but is now 'happy and okay'"], ''Daily News'' (New York)</ref> She largely recovered, with some lingering disabilities related to balance and loss of vision. As a result of the severe trauma, she had no memory of the attack or of any events up to an hour before the assault, nor of the six weeks following the attack.<ref name="oprah.com" /> The crime was unique in the level of public outrage it provoked. [[New York Governor]] [[Mario Cuomo]] told the ''[[New York Post]]'': "This is the ultimate shriek of alarm."<ref name="didion">{{cite news |first=Joan |last=Didion |authorlink=Joan Didion |title=Sentimental Journeys (intro only available without subscription)|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/jan/17/new-york-sentimental-journeys/ |publisher=[[New York Review of Books]] |date=January 17, 1991 |accessdate=June 21, 2007 }} This essay has also been published in Didion's non-fiction collection ''After Henry'' (1992).</ref> == Trisha Ellen Meili == [[File:Trisha Meili.jpg|thumb|Trisha Meili in 2005]] Trisha Ellen Meili was born on June 24, 1960, in [[Paramus, New Jersey]], and raised in [[Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania]], a suburb of Pittsburgh.<ref name="nydailynews.com1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five/lived-dream-life-article-1.1304511|title=Lived a dream life|last=Kriegel|first=Mark|date=April 1, 2013|work=New York Daily News}}</ref> She is the daughter and youngest of three children of John Meili, a [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]] senior manager, and his wife Jean, a school board member.<ref name="google.com2">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19900717&id=589RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6547,3860795|title=Jogger Reluctantly Surrenders Privacy in Court|date=July 17, 1990|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/27/style/a-night-out-with-trisha-meili-something-to-celebrate.html|title=A Night Out With/Trisha Meili – Something to Celebrate|last=Lee|first=Linda|date=April 27, 2003|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030329joggerreg3P3.asp|title=Central Park jogger writes book about her life since attack|last=Carpenter|first=Mackenzie|date=March 29, 2003|work=Post-Gazette|accessdate=May 19, 2013}}</ref> She attended [[Upper St. Clair High School]], graduating in 1978.<ref name="post-gazette.com" /> Meili was a [[Phi Beta Kappa]] economics major at [[Wellesley College]], where she received a [[B.A.]] in 1982.<ref name="google.com2" /><ref name="nydailynews.com1" /> The chairman of Wellesley's economics department said: "She was brilliant, probably one of the top four or five students of the decade."<ref name="nytimes.com2" /> In 1986, she earned an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] from [[Yale]] and an [[Master of Business Administration|M.B.A.]] in finance from the [[Yale School of Management]].<ref name="post-gazette.com" /> She worked from the summer of 1986 until the attack as an associate and then a vice president in the corporate finance department and energy group of [[Salomon Brothers]].<ref name="cnn.com1" /><ref name="post-gazette.com" /><ref name="google.com2" /><ref name="msnbc.Iam">{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3080126/ns/dateline_nbc-books/t/i-am-central-park-jogger/#.VPUtYi7QNm0|title=‘I am the Central Park Jogger’|publisher=MSNBC}}</ref> Meili lived on East 83rd Street between [[York Avenue|York]] and [[East End Avenue]]s on the [[Upper East Side]] of Manhattan. At the time of the attack, she was 28 years old and weighed less than 100 pounds (45&nbsp;kg).<ref name="cnn.com1" /><ref name="post-gazette.com" /><ref name="google.com2" /><ref name="nytimes.com" /><ref name="msnbc.Iam"/> In most media accounts of the incident at that time, Meili was simply referred to as the "Central Park Jogger". However, two local TV stations violated media policy of not publicly identifying the victims of sex crimes and released her name in the days immediately following the attack. Two newspapers aimed at the African-American community—''[[The City Sun]]'' and the ''[[The New York Amsterdam News|Amsterdam News]]''—and the black-owned [[talk radio]] station [[WLIB]] continued to do so as the case progressed.<ref name="didion" /> Their editors said this was in response to the media publicizing the names and personal information about the five suspects, who were all minors, before they were arraigned.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/women-under-assault-206518|title=Women Under Assault|date=July 15, 1990|work=Newsweek|access-date=January 19, 2018|language=en}}</ref> The ''Open Line'' hosts on [[WRKS]] were credited with helping continue to cover the case until the convicted youths were cleared in 2002 of the crime.<ref>Hinckley, David, [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/black-radio-ratings-continues-vital-resource-article-1.1084535 "Black radio, despite what ratings say, continues as a vital resource"], ''Daily News'', May 27, 2012.</ref> In April 2003, Meili confirmed her identity to the media when she published a memoir entitled ''[[I Am the Central Park Jogger]]''. She began a career as an inspirational speaker.<ref>{{cite book|title=I Am the Central Park Jogger|author=Meili, Trisha|publisher=Scribner|year=2003|isbn=0-7432-4437-0}}</ref> She also works with victims of sexual assault and brain injury in the Mount Sinai sexual assault and violence intervention program.<ref name="nytimes.com1" /> She continues to manifest some after-effects of the assault, including [[memory loss]].<ref name="post-gazette.com" /><ref name="usatoday.com" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Oprah-Interviews-the-Central-Park-Jogger|title=Oprah Talks to the Central Park Jogger|work=Oprah.com|access-date=January 19, 2018|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/27/style/a-night-out-with-trisha-meili-something-to-celebrate.html|title=A Night Out With/Trisha Meili – Something to Celebrate|date=April 27, 2003|work=The New York Times}}</ref> == Arrests and investigation == === Arrest of five youths === [[File:Centralpark_map.png|link=Central Park#Attractions|right|thumb|upright=1.7|Map of [[Central Park]] and its attractions]] The police were dispatched at 9:30&nbsp;p.m. and responded with scooters and unmarked cars. They apprehended Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson along with other teenagers at approximately 10:15&nbsp;p.m. on [[Central Park West]] and 102nd Street.<ref name="dwyer.flynn" /><ref name="prenhall.com" /><ref name="nymag.com" /> Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise were not brought in for questioning until the next day, after having been identified by other youths as participants in or present at some of the attacks.<ref name="prenhall.com" /> Korey Wise said he accompanied his friend Salaam to the station to give him support.<ref name="nymag.com" /> The five juveniles were interviewed for at least seven hours each before the detectives attempted to take their statements as video confessions,<ref name="dwyer.flynn"/> and some were held longer without relief, or food or drink. Santana, McCray, and Richardson later made video statements in the presence of their respective parents,<ref name="dwyer.flynn" /><ref name="thedailybeast.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/19/decoding-the-crime-of-the-century-the-real-story-of-the-central-park-five.html|title=The Myth of the Central Park Five|work=The Daily Beast|date=October 19, 2014|first=Edward |last=Conlon}}</ref> but no parents had been present during the lengthy police interrogations prior to that.<ref name="dwyer.flynn" /> Wise made a number of statements while on his own.<ref name="dwyer.flynn" /><ref name="thedailybeast.com" /> Salaam told the police he was 15 years old but showed them identification that said he was 16, which he said was false. If a suspect had reached 16 years of age, his parents or guardians no longer had a right to accompany him during police questioning, or to refuse to permit him to answer any questions.<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /> After Salaam's mother arrived at the station, the police stopped the questioning, but Salaam's earlier statements were admitted into trial testimony.<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /> Normal police procedure stipulated that the names of criminal suspects under the age of 16 were to be withheld from the media and the public. This policy was ignored when the names of the arrested juveniles were released to the press before any of them had been formally [[arraignment|arraigned]] or [[indictment|indicted]], including one 14-year-old who was ultimately not charged.<ref name="didion" /> The media did withhold Meili's identity, which was common practice for victims of sex crimes. In response to the major media's decisions to print the names, photos, and addresses of the juvenile suspects, editors of the ''[[City Sun]]'' and the ''[[Amsterdam News]]'' used Meili's name in their own continuing coverage of the events.<ref>{{cite book|title=Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings|last=Smith|first=Valerie|publisher=Routledge|year=1998|isbn=0-415-90325-4|pages=16–17}}</ref> ===Police claims=== According to a 2014 article in ''The Daily Beast'' by <nowiki>[[Edward Conlon]]</nowiki>, before the raped jogger was found, one of the other boys whom the police had rounded up that night said that he "didn't do the murder"; he was sitting in the back of a police car and named Antron McCray as the perpetrator. Kevin Richardson, who was sitting beside him, allegedly agreed, saying "Antron did it". He also said that after Raymond Santana had been interrogated about the rape and while he was being driven to another precinct, he exclaimed: "I had nothing to do with the rape. All I did was feel her tits." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/wise.pdf|work=Huffington Post}}</ref> <ref name="conlon">{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-myth-of-the-central-park-five |title=The myth of the Central Park Five|last=Conlon| first= Edward |work=Daily Beast|date= October 10, 2014 |access-date= June 8, 2019}}</ref> === Evidence offered at court === Four of the five initially [[Confession (legal)|confessed]] to police about other attacks, robbery and assault, committed in the park that night.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> None of the five said that he had raped the jogger, but each confessed to having been an accomplice to the rape.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> Each youth said that he had only helped restrain the jogger, or touched her, while one or more others had raped her. Their confessions varied as to who they identified as having participated in the rape, including naming several youths who were never charged.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> Antron McCray said that a "Puerto Rican kid with a hoodie" had been the one who had raped the jogger.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> While incarcerated in the [[Rikers Island]] jail, Korey Wise allegedly told Melonie Jackson, the older sister of a friend of his, that he had only restrained the jogger. Jackson so testified at his trial.<ref name="thedailybeast.com"/> Yusef Salaam allegedly made verbal admissions, but refused to sign a confession or make one on videotape. However, Salaam was implicated by the other four, and convicted at trial. Five other teenagers were charged with committing crimes in the park that night against other persons and unrelated to the rape of Meili. They pleaded guilty and received sentences of six months to four and a half years.<ref name="prenhall.com" /> On appeal, Salaam's attorneys charged that he had been held by police without access to parents or guardians. The majority appellate court decision noted that Salaam had initially lied to police in claiming to be 16, and he had backed up his claim with a transit pass that, falsely, indicated that he was 16. When Salaam informed police of his true age, police permitted his mother to be present.<ref>{{cite news|title=Detective Cites Coercion of Teen|date=July 24, 1990|newspaper=[[Albany Times Union]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|page=B6|quote=Justice Thomas B. Galligan allowed the statements as evidence because Salaam had given police a student transit pass with a false birth date written in. The false birth date indicated Salaam was a year older that he was.}}</ref> Analysis indicated that the [[Genetic fingerprinting|DNA]] collected at the crime scene did not match any of the suspects. It had all come from the same unknown man.<ref name="Schanberg" /> Since no DNA evidence tied the suspects to the crime, the prosecution's case rested almost entirely on the youths' confessions.<ref name="didion" /> One of the suspects' supporters, Reverend [[Calvin O. Butts]] of the [[Abyssinian Baptist Church]] in [[Harlem]], told ''The New York Times,'' "The first thing you do in the United States of America when a white woman is raped is round up a bunch of black youths, and I think that's what happened here."<ref name="didion" /> Although the suspects (except Salaam) had later confessed on videotape in the presence of a parent or guardian, they retracted their statements within weeks, claiming that they had been intimidated, lied to, and coerced by police into making [[false confession]]s.<ref name="Schanberg">{{cite news |first=Sydney |last=Schanberg |authorlink=Sydney Schanberg|title=A Journey Through the Tangled Case of the Central Park Jogger |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/a-journey-through-the-tangled-case-of-the-central-park-jogger-6436053 |quote=Every now and again, we get a look, usually no more than a glimpse, at how the justice system really works. What we see before the sanitizing curtain is drawn abruptly down is a process full of human fallibility and error, sometimes noble, more often unfair, rarely evil but frequently unequal, and through it all inevitably influenced by issues of race and class and economic status. In short, it's a lot like other big, unwieldy institutions. Such a moment of clear sight emerges from the mess we know as the case of the Central Park jogger. |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=November 26, 2002 |access-date=August 21, 2007 }}</ref> Salaam confessed to being present only after the detective falsely told him that his fingerprints had been found on the victim's clothing.<ref name="nymag.com">{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/n_7836|title=Central Park Revisited|date=October 21, 2002|access-date=February 13, 2013| first= Chris |last=Smith|work=New York magazine}}</ref> According to Salaam, "I would hear them beating up Korey Wise in the next room", and "they would come and look at me and say: 'You realize you're next.' The fear made me feel really like I was not going to be able to make it out."<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/17/central-park-five-donald-trump-jogger-rape-case-new-york|title=Donald Trump and the Central Park Five: the racially charged rise of a demagogue|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=February 17, 2016}}</ref> While the confessions themselves were videotaped, the hours of interrogation that preceded the confessions were not. ==Trials== === First trial === In a first trial in August 1990, defendants Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, and Raymond Santana were acquitted of attempted murder, but convicted of rape, assault, robbery, and rioting in the attacks on the jogger and others in Central Park that night.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> Salaam and McCray were 15 years old, and Santana 14 years old, at the time of the crime.<ref name="NRO"/> They were sentenced to the maximum allowed for juveniles, 5–10 years each in a youth correctional facility.<ref name="Morgenthau"/><ref name=nyt1>{{cite news |title=The Case of the Central Park Jogger |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/nyregion/the-case-of-the-central-park-jogger.html |newspaper= The New York Times|date= August 19, 1990}}</ref><ref name=nyt2>{{cite news |title=Shouts of 'Lie' Stun 2d Trial in Jogger Rape |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/23/nyregion/shouts-of-lie-stun-2d-trial-in-jogger-rape.html|newspaper= The New York Times|date=October 23, 1990}}</ref> The jury consisted of four European Americans, four African Americans, four Latinos, and one Asian American. <!-- What was the gender make-up? -->It deliberated for 10 days before rendering its verdict.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V49MOfNVH_AC&pg=PT39&lpg=PT39&dq=%22central+park+jogger%22+%22amsterdam+news%22&source=bl&ots=XsrdhxjlGR&sig=mNO9asmNJC6jOdYUl0DUfDyt_zc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7nj3VMnSAcbmsATW_YLYCQ&ved=0CJkBEOgBMBY#v=onepage&q=%22central%20park%20jogger%22%20%22amsterdam%20news%22&f=false|title=The Central Park Jogger Case|work=|ISBN=1625397429}}</ref> === Second trial === The second trial ended in December 1990.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> Kevin Richardson, 14 years old at the time of the crime, was convicted of attempted murder, rape, assault, and robbery in the attacks on the joggers and others in the park, and sentenced to 5–10 years in a juvenile facility. Korey Wise, 16 years old at the time of the crime, was acquitted of those charges. He was convicted of sexual abuse, assault, and riot in the attack on the jogger and others in the park. Because of his age, he was sentenced to 5–15 years in adult prison.<ref name="prenhall.com"/> After the verdict, Wise shouted at the prosecutor: "You’re going to pay for this. Jesus is going to get you. You made this up."<ref name=nydn>{{cite news |title= 2 guilty in jog case|url= https://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five/2-guilty-jog-case-article-1.1304973|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |location=New York |date=December 12, 1990}}</ref> Meili took the stand during this trial but her name was not given in court. Afterward she said: "I'll tell you what—I didn't feel wonderful about the boys' defense attorneys, especially the one who cross-examined me. He was right in front of my face and, in essence, calling me a slut by asking questions like 'When's the last time you had sex with your boyfriend?'"<ref name="oprah.com"/> Wise's lawyer had also asked her whether she had been assaulted by men in her life, suggested that a man she knew may have attacked her, and implied her injuries were not as severe as they had been made out to be.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19901103&id=oVNWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kusDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6767,463485|title=Lawyer for Defense Questions Central Park Jogger|author= Associated Press|work=Eugene Register-Guard }}</ref> Jurors who were interviewed after the trial said that they were not convinced by the confessions, but were impressed by the [[physical evidence]] introduced by the prosecutors: semen, grass, dirt, and two hairs described as "consistent with" the victim's hair<ref name="Morgenthau"/>{{rp|6}} recovered from Richardson's underpants.<ref name=nyt3>{{cite news |title= Jogger Trial Jury Relied on Physical Evidence, Not Tapes|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/13/nyregion/jogger-trial-jury-relied-on-physical-evidence-not-tapes.html|newspaper= The New York Times|date=December 13, 1990}}</ref> (Note: More advanced DNA testing in 2002 established that these hairs did not come from the victim.)<ref name="revisit"/> Four of the youths appealed their convictions, but Santana did not appeal. The convictions were upheld.<ref name="Morgenthau"/><ref name="prenhall.com"/> The five defendants served between six and 13 years each in prison, with Wise having the longest sentence and all of it in adult prison.<ref name=additional>[http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/central-park-pursue-money-41m-settlement-article-1.2036527 "Central Park Five seek an additional $52 million after reaching $41 million settlement for wrongful imprisonment in 1989 rape of jogger"], ''Daily News'' (New York)</ref> The case attracted nationwide attention. It was the subject of many articles and books, both during the trials and after the convictions.<ref>Sullivan, Timothy, ''Unequal Verdicts: The Central Park Jogger Trials'' (1992, Simon & Schuster)({{ISBN|067174237X}}).</ref> ==Convictions vacated== === The assailant === {{anchor|Matias Reyes}} <!--[[Matias Reyes]] redirects here.--> In 2001, convicted serial rapist and murderer Matias Reyes was serving a [[life sentence]] in New York state. He had never been identified as a suspect in the Central Park attack on Meili, although he had been at large at the time. Reyes was later convicted of raping another woman in the park two days before his attack on Meili.<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /> In 2001 Reyes met Wise when he was held at the [[Auburn Correctional Facility]] in upstate New York.<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /><ref name="nytimes.com4">{{cite news |first=Russ |last=Buettner |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/nyregion/ny-city-subpoenas-ken-burns-film-on-89-jogger-rape.html |title=City Subpoenas Film Outtakes as It Defends Suit by Men Cleared in ’89 Rape |date=October 3, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In 2002, Reyes said that on the night of April 19, 1989, he had assaulted and raped the jogger. He was 17 years old at the time and said that he had acted alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20140620/central-park-jogger-case-settled-for-40-million|title=Central Park jogger case settled for $40&nbsp;million|publisher=nhregister.com}}</ref><ref name="nydailynews.com">{{cite news|first=Annaliese |last=Griffin |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five/profile-matias-reyes-article-1.1308560|title=A Profile of Matias Reyes|work=Daily News|date=April 5, 2013|accessdate=March 24, 2011}}</ref> Reyes was then working at an East Harlem convenience store on [[Third Avenue]] and 102nd Street, and living in a van on the street.<ref name="nydailynews.com" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBoqvDnYodcC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=Trisha+Meili++%22third+avenue%22&source=bl&ots=VnAro1DEP6&sig=1c1VF31bS2z50j8P772JlFQpy2M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CSz1VNu2BpKwsAT5nYDYAw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Trisha%20Meili%20%20%22third%20avenue%22&f=false|title=The Central Park Five; The Untold Story Behind One of New York City's Most Infamous Crimes|first=Sarah |last=Burns}}</ref> He provided a detailed account of the attack, details of which were corroborated by other evidence which the police held.<ref name="Morgenthau" /> The DNA evidence confirmed that he was the sole source of the [[semen]] found in and on the victim "to a factor of one in 6,000,000,000 people".<ref name="Morgenthau" /> DNA analysis of the strands of hair found in Richardson's underpants established that the hair did not belong to the victim.<ref name="revisit">{{cite news |title= A Crime Revisited: The Decision; 13 Years Later, Official Reversal in Jogger Attack|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/06/nyregion/a-crime-revisited-the-decision-13-years-later-official-reversal-in-jogger-attack.html?ref=centralparkjoggercase1989&pagewanted=2&pagewanted=all|newspaper= The New York Times|date=December 6, 2002}}</ref> In announcing these facts, the DA also said that Meili had been tied up with her T-shirt in a distinctive fashion that Reyes used again on later victims in crimes for which he was convicted.<ref name="Morgenthau" /> Reyes was not prosecuted for the rape of Meili because the [[statute of limitations]] had passed.<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/central-park-five-agree-to-40-million-wrongful-conviction-settlement-1403231947|title='Central Park Five' Agree to $40 Million Wrongful-Conviction Settlement (subscription)|first=Michael Howard |last=Saul |author2=Sean Gardiner|date=June 20, 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> By the time of his confession, Reyes had been convicted and sentenced to life for raping four other women and killing one of them.<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /> === Recommendation to vacate charges === [[File:NLN Yusef Salaam.jpg|thumb|Yusef Salaam in 2009, seven years after his conviction was vacated]] As a result of Reyes's confession, and the DNA evidence that confirmed he was the sole person to rape Meili, [[District Attorney]] [[Robert M. Morgenthau]] recommended [[vacated judgment|vacating]] the convictions of the five defendants originally convicted and sentenced to prison.<ref name="Morgenthau" /> Supporters of the five defendants again claimed that their confessions had been coerced by police. An examination of the inconsistencies between their confessions led the prosecutor to question the veracity of their confessions. Morgenthau's office wrote: <blockquote>A comparison of the statements reveals troubling discrepancies. ... The accounts given by the five defendants differed from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime—who initiated the attack, who knocked the victim down, who undressed her, who struck her, who held her, who raped her, what weapons were used in the course of the assault, and when in the sequence of events the attack took place. ... In many other respects the defendants' statements were not corroborated by, consistent with, or explanatory of objective, independent evidence. And some of what they said was simply contrary to established fact.<ref name="Morgenthau">{{cite web |url=http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/wise.pdf |title=Affirmation in Response to Motion to Vacate Judgment of Conviction: The People of the State of New York -against- Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana, Defendants |date=December 5, 2002 |format=PDF |author=Nancy E. Ryan|publisher=[[Robert M. Morgenthau]], [[District Attorney]], [[New York County]] |accessdate=June 22, 2007}}</ref></blockquote> In the light of the "extraordinary circumstances" of the case, DA Morgenthau also recommended that the court also vacate the convictions for the other crimes that night to which the defendants had confessed. His rationale was that the defendants' confessions to the other crimes were made at the same time and in the same statements as those related to the attack on Meili. Had the newly discovered evidence been available at the original trials, it might have made the juries question whether any part of the defendants' confessions were trustworthy.<ref name="Morgenthau" /> Morgenthau's recommendation to vacate the convictions was strongly opposed by some,<ref>https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/224068/what-media-wont-tell-you-about-central-park-five-ann-coulter</ref> including [[Linda Fairstein]], who had directed the original prosecution.<ref name="Schanberg" /> Despite the analysis conducted by the District Attorney's Office, New York City detectives maintained that the defendants had "most likely" been Reyes' accomplices in the assault and rape of Meili.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/nyregion/boys-guilt-likely-in-rape-of-jogger-police-panel-says.html?pagewanted=all |first=Robert D. |last=McFadden |authorlink=Robert D. McFadden |title=Boys' Guilt Likely in Rape of Jogger, Police Panel Says |work=The New York Times |date=January 28, 2003 |quote= A panel commissioned by the New York City Police Department concluded yesterday that there was no misconduct in the 1989 investigation of the Central Park jogger case, and said that five Harlem men whose convictions were thrown out by a judge last month had ''most likely'' participated in the beating and rape of the jogger. The panel also disputed the claim of Matias Reyes, a convicted killer and serial rapist, that he alone had raped the jogger. It was his confession last year that led to a sweeping re-examination of the infamous case by prosecutors, and to a reversal of all the original convictions against the five defendants. |accessdate=June 22, 2007}}</ref> In 2014, two doctors who had treated Meili after she was attacked said that some of her injuries appeared to be inconsistent with Reyes' claim that he had acted alone.<ref name="nbcnews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-york-reaches-40m-settlement-central-park-jogger-case-n136841|title=New York Reaches $40M Settlement in Central Park Jogger Case|publisher=NBC News}}</ref><ref name="nytquestions" /><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/protesters-trump-jogger-case-article-1.499942 | location=New York | work=Daily News | title=Protesters Want Trump's Help in Jogger Case | first=Elizabeth | last=Hays | date=October 28, 2002}}</ref> But a forensic pathologist who testified at the 1990 trial, and the New York City chief medical examiner said in 2002 that it was impossible to tell from the victim's injuries how many people had participated in the assault.<ref name="nytquestions">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/nyregion/suit-in-jogger-case-may-be-settled-but-questions-arent.html|last=Dwyer|first=Jim|title=Suit in Jogger Case May Be Settled, but Questions Aren't|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 24, 2014|accessdate=June 25, 2014}}</ref> Police Commissioner [[Raymond Kelly]] complained that Morgenthau's staff had denied his detectives access to "important evidence" needed to conduct a thorough investigation.<ref name="Saulny">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/20/nyregion/convictions-and-charges-voided-in-89-central-park-jogger-attack.html|title=Convictions and Charges Voided In '89 Central Park Jogger Attack|last=Saulny|first=Susan|date=December 20, 2002|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=June 22, 2007|quote=Thirteen years after an investment banker jogging in Central Park was savagely beaten, raped and left for dead, a [[Manhattan]] judge threw out the convictions yesterday of the five young men who had confessed to attacking the woman on a night of violence that stunned the city and the nation. In one final, extraordinary ruling that took about five minutes, Justice Charles J. Tejada of State Supreme Court in Manhattan granted recent motions made by defense lawyers and [[Robert M. Morgenthau]], the [[New York County District Attorney|Manhattan District Attorney]], to vacate all convictions against the young men in connection with the jogger attack and a spree of robberies and assaults in the park that night.}}</ref> The five defendants' convictions were vacated by [[New York Supreme Court]] Justice Charles J. Tejada on December 19, 2002. As Morgenthau recommended, Tejada's order vacated the convictions for all the crimes of which the defendants had been convicted.<ref name="Saulny" /> Because each of the defendants had completed their prison sentences at the time of Tejada's order, its effect was limited to clearing their names. One defendant, Santana, remained in jail, convicted of an unrelated later crime. His attorney said that his sentence had been extended in that case because of his conviction in the Meili attack. All five were removed from New York State's [[Sex offender registries in the United States|sex offender registry]].<ref name="Saulny"/><ref>Innocence Project: [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/252.php Salaam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020235/http://innocenceproject.org/Content/252.php |date=September 27, 2007}}, [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/243.php Richardson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020256/http://innocenceproject.org/Content/243.php |date=September 27, 2007}}, [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/208.php McCray] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020302/http://innocenceproject.org/Content/208.php |date=September 27, 2007}}, [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/255.php Santana] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020338/http://innocenceproject.org/Content/255.php |date=September 27, 2007}}, [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/298.php Wise] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020535/http://innocenceproject.org/Content/298.php |date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/nyMcCraySummary.html |title=Wrongful Convictions |work=Northwestern University Law School |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627052009/http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/nyMcCraySummary.html |archivedate=June 27, 2010 }}</ref> == Aftermath== ===Armstrong Report=== Following these events, in 2002, [[New York City Police Commissioner]] [[Raymond Kelly]] commissioned a panel of three lawyers to review the case.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/nyregion/boys-guilt-likely-in-rape-of-jogger-police-panel-says.html|title=Boys' Guilt Likely in Rape of Jogger, Police Panel Says|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The panel was made up of two lawyers, [[Michael F. Armstrong]], the former chief counsel to the [[Knapp Commission]], and Jules Martin, a [[New York University]] Vice President, as well as Stephen Hammerman, deputy police commissioner for legal affairs.<ref name="thedailybeast.com"/><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="cnn.com">{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/27/nyjogger.report/index.html?iref=mpstoryview|first=Phil |last=Hirschkorn|title=Police panel slams decision to absolve men in Central Park jogger case|date=January 28, 2003|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GR5zAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60|title=Encyclopedia of Street Crime in America|first=Jeffrey Ian |last=Ross|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2013}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/02/nyregion/2-prominent-lawyers-to-review-police-inquiry-into-central-park-jogger-case.html The New York Times]</ref> The panel issued a 43-page report in January 2003.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The panel disputed Reyes's claim that he alone had raped the jogger.<ref name="thedailybeast.com"/><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="cnn.com"/> It said there was "nothing but his uncorroborated word" that he acted alone.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Armstrong said the panel believed "the word of a serial rapist killer is not something to be heavily relied upon."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The report concluded that the five men whose convictions had been vacated had "most likely" participated in the beating and rape of the jogger and that the "most likely scenario" was that "both the defendants and Reyes assaulted her, perhaps successively."<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /><ref name="ReferenceA" /> The report said Reyes had most likely "either joined in the attack as it was ending or waited until the defendants had moved on to their next victims before descending upon her himself, raping her and inflicting upon her the brutal injuries that almost caused her death."<ref name="thedailybeast.com" /><ref name="ReferenceA" /> As to the five defendants, the report said: <blockquote>We believe the inconsistencies contained in the various statements were not such as to destroy their reliability. On the other hand, there was a general consistency that ran through the defendants' descriptions of the attack on the female jogger: she was knocked down on the road, dragged into the woods, hit and molested by several defendants, sexually abused by some while others held her arms and legs, and left semiconscious in a state of undress.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="cnn.com"/></blockquote> "It seems impossible to say that they weren't there at all, because they knew too much," Armstrong said in an interview.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-06/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-centralparkbre8b51j8-20121206_1_central-park-jogger-case-korey-wise-raymond-santana|title=Two decades later, Central Park Jogger rape case lives on|work=Chicago Tribune|date= December 6, 2012|first=Joseph |last=Ax }}</ref> ===Lawsuits against New York City=== In 2003, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana Jr., and Antron McCray sued the city for $250&nbsp;million for [[malicious prosecution]], [[racism|racial discrimination]], and [[Intentional infliction of emotional distress|emotional distress]].<ref>[http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/5439582.php The Central Park 5 Want to Settle Lawsuit]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} October 14, 2009</ref> The city refused for a decade to settle the suits, saying that "the confessions that withstood intense scrutiny, in full and fair pretrial hearings and at two lengthy public trials" established [[probable cause]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/nyregion/new-york-wont-settle-suits-in-central-park-jogger-case.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=John |last=Eligon |title=New York Won't Settle Suits in Central Park Jogger Case |date=April 19, 2011}}</ref> New York City lawyers under then-Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] believed the city would win the case if it went to trial.<ref name=additional /> While running for mayor of New York City in 2013, [[Bill de Blasio]] pledged to settle the case if he won the election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/26/justice/new-york-central-park-five-settle/|title=New York City comptroller approves $40&nbsp;million settlement for Central Park Five|first=Ray |last=Sanchez |author2=Allie Malloy|date=June 26, 2014|publisher=CNN}}</ref> Filmmaker [[Ken Burns]] said in a November 2013 interview that Mayor-elect de Blasio had agreed to settle the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Barry |date=November 12, 2013 |title=Central Park Five Lawsuit: New York City Mayor-Elect Bill De Blasio Agrees To Settle Decade-Long Case Over Wrongful Convictions |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/central-park-five-lawsuit-new-york-city-mayor-elect-bill-de-blasio-agrees-settle-decade-long-case |work=[[International Business Times]]}}</ref> A settlement in the case for about $40&nbsp;million, supported by Mayor De Blasio, was announced by the city in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/nyregion/5-exonerated-in-central-park-jogger-case-are-to-settle-suit-for-40-million.html|title=5 Exonerated in Central Park Jogger Case Agree to Settle Suit for $40 Million|work=New York Times|date=June 19, 2014}}</ref> Santana, Salaam, McCray, and Richardson each received around $7.1&nbsp;million from the city for their years in prison, while Wise received $12.2&nbsp;million. The city did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gothamist.com/2014/09/06/judge_officially_oks_central_park_f.php|title=Judge Officially OKs Central Park Five's $41 Million Settlement|work=Gothamist|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908021649/http://gothamist.com/2014/09/06/judge_officially_oks_central_park_f.php|archivedate=September 8, 2014}}</ref> The settlement averaged roughly $1&nbsp;million for each year of imprisonment that each of the men had served.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-central-park-jogger-case-20140620-story.html|title=New York close to settling Central Park jogger case, reportedly for $40&nbsp;million|date=June 20, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> As of December 2014, the five men were pursuing an additional $52&nbsp;million in damages from New York State in the [[New York Court of Claims]], before Judge Alan Marin.<ref name=additional /> Speaking of the second suit, against the state, Santana said: "When you have a person who has been exonerated of a crime, the city provides no services to transition him back to society. The only thing left is something like this—so you can receive some type of money so you can survive."<ref name=additional /> ==Accusations by Donald Trump== [[File:Trump Bring Back Death Penalty ad 1989.jpg|thumb|The full-page advertisement taken out by Trump in the May 1, 1989 issue of the ''Daily News''.]] On May 1, 1989, [[Donald Trump]], a real estate magnate, called for the return of the [[Capital punishment in New York|death penalty]] in full-page advertisements published in all four of the city's major newspapers. Trump said he wanted the "criminals of every age" who were accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park 12 days earlier "to be afraid".<ref name=NYTimes1989>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/01/nyregion/angered-by-attack-trump-urges-return-of-the-death-penalty.html |title=Angered by Attack, Trump Urges Return of the Death Penalty |first=Lisa W. |last=Foderaro |date=May 1, 1989 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=May 28, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="NYT Oct 2002">{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/23/nyregion/trump-draws-criticism-for-ad-he-ran-after-jogger-attack.html | title = Trump Draws Criticism for Ad He Ran After Jogger Attack | work = New York Times | location = New York}}</ref> The advertisement, which cost an estimated $85,000,<ref name=NYTimes1989/><ref name="NYT Oct 2002"/> said, in part, <blockquote>"Mayor Koch has stated that hate and rancor should be removed from our hearts. I do not think so. I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer ... Yes, Mayor Koch, I want to hate these murderers and I always will. ... How can our great society tolerate the continued brutalization of its citizens by crazed misfits? Criminals must be told that their CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS!"<ref name="Trump Ad">{{cite web | url = http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1838466.1403324800!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/trump21n-1-web.jpg?enlarged | title = Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police! | work = Open Letter from Donald J. Trump | location = New York}}</ref></blockquote>In a 1989 interview with CNN, Trump said to [[Larry King]]: "The problem with our society is the victim has absolutely no rights and the criminal has unbelievable rights" and that "maybe hate is what we need if we're gonna get something done."<ref>[[Andrew Kaczynski|Kaczynski, Andrew]] & Jon Sarlin, [http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/07/politics/trump-larry-king-central-park-five/ Trump in 1989 Central Park Five interview: "Maybe hate is what we need"], CNN (October 10, 2016).</ref> Lawyers for the five defendants said that Trump's advertisement had inflamed public opinion. After Reyes confessed to the crime and said he acted alone, one of the defendants' lawyers, Michael W. Warren, said, "I think Donald Trump at the very least owes a real apology to this community and to the young men and their families."<ref name="NYT Oct 2002"/> Protests were held outside [[Trump Tower]] in October 2002 with protestors chanting, "Trump is a chump!"<ref name="NYT Oct 2002"/> Trump was unapologetic, saying, "I don't mind if they picket. I like pickets."<ref name="NYT Oct 2002"/> After the city announced in June 2014 that they would settle with the defendants for more than $40 million, Trump wrote an [[op-ed|opinion article]] for the ''[[New York Daily News]].'' He said the settlement was "a disgrace," and that the men were likely guilty: "Settling doesn't mean innocence. ... Speak to the detectives on the case and try listening to the facts. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels."<ref name="NYDN Jun 2014">{{cite web | url = http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/donald-trump-central-park-settlement-disgrace-article-1.1838467 | title = Donald Trump: Central Park Five settlement is a 'disgrace' | work = New York Daily News | location = New York}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote in 2016 that the case and the media attention reflected the racial dynamics at the time. When a similar brutal attack took place soon after in [[Brooklyn]] on May 2, 1989,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/02/nyregion/2-men-get-6-to-18-years-for-rape-in-brooklyn.html 2 Men Get 6 to 18 Years for Rape in Brooklyn - The New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> when a black woman was raped and thrown from the roof of a four-story building, the case received little media attention.<ref name="guardian"/> After Trump learned of her case, he visited the victim in the hospital and promised to pay her medical expenses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/07/nyregion/trump-promises-to-pay-bills-for-rape-victim-in-brooklyn.html|title=Trump Promises to Pay Bills for Rape Victim in Brooklyn|agency=The Associated Press|date=May 7, 1989|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 21, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Jim |last=Sleeper |authorlink=Jim Sleeper |title=Liberal Racism: How Fixating on Race Subverts the American Dream |year=2002 |origyear=1997 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=978-0-7425-2201-5 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INvG6UX9_ksC&pg=PA27}}</ref> It is not known whether Trump paid any money toward her expenses.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-boasts-of-his-philanthropy-but-his-giving-falls-short-of-his-words/2016/10/29/b3c03106-9ac7-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html |title=Trump boasts about his philanthropy. But his giving falls short of his words. |first=David |last=Fahrenthold |authorlink=David Fahrenthold |date=October 29, 2016 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=August 21, 2018 }}</ref> In October 2016, when [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Trump campaigned for the presidency]], he said that the Central Park Five were guilty and that their convictions should not have been vacated. Trump said to CNN: <blockquote>"They admitted they were guilty. The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/06/politics/reality-check-donald-trump-central-park-5/ |first=Steven A. |last=Holmes |date=October 7, 2016 |accessdate=October 7, 2016 |work=CNN |title=Reality Check: Donald Trump and the Central Park 5}}</ref></blockquote>The men of the Central Park Five criticized Trump for his statement,<ref>Patters, Brandon Ellington, [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/central-park-five-blast-donald-trump-exclusive Exclusive: Central Park Five Members Blast Trump for Insisting They're Guilty], ''Mother Jones'' (October 7, 2016).</ref> as did others, including U.S. Senator [[John McCain]] (R-Arizona), who said that Trump's responses were "outrageous statements about the innocent men in the Central Park Five case." He cited this as among his reasons to retract his endorsement of Trump.<ref>Fuller, Matt, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-mccain-unendorses-trump_us_57f95fc1e4b0e655eab4f273 John McCain Unendorses Donald Trump], ''Huffington Post'' (October 8, 2016).</ref> At the time, Salaam responded, saying that he had falsely confessed because of coercion, after having been mistreated by police while in custody, and deprived of food, drink, or sleep for over 24 hours.<ref name=salaam-speaks-out>{{cite web | last = Salaam | first = Yusuf | date = October 12, 2016 | title = I'm one of the Central Park Five. Donald Trump won't leave me alone. | url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-central-park-five-guilty-20161012-story.html | website = [[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> ==Representation in other media== {{main|The Central Park Five}} *[[Sarah Burns (writer filmmaker)|Sarah Burns]] and her husband David McMahon premiered ''[[The Central Park Five]]'', a documentary film about the case, at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in May 2012.<ref name=ap>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/06/nyc-central-park-jogger/2058829/|title=NYC is pressed to settle Central Park jogger case|date=April 6, 2013|work=USA Today}}</ref> She had earlier explored racism in media coverage of the event as an undergraduate.<ref>{{citation|title=Filmmakers Sarah Burns and David McMahon tell why they made the documentary The Central Park Five|date=April 9, 2013|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five/filmmakers-sarah-burns-david-mcmahon-made-documentary-central-park-article-1.1305943|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]}}.</ref> Documentarian Ken Burns had earlier compared the case to that of the [[Scottsboro Boys]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/arts/television/13jens.html|title=Ken Burns, the Voice of the Wilderness|last=Jensen|first=Elizabeth|date=September 10, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 4, 2012}}</ref> He said he hoped the material of the film would push the city to settle the case against it.<ref name="nytimes.com4" /> On September 12, 2012, attorneys for New York City subpoenaed the production company for access to the original footage in connection with its defense of the 2003 federal civil lawsuit brought against the city by three of the convicted youths.<ref name="burnssubpoena">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/nyregion/ny-city-subpoenas-ken-burns-film-on-89-jogger-rape.html|title=City Subpoenas Film Outtakes as It Defends Suit by Men Cleared in '89 Rape|last=Buettner|first=Russ|date=October 2, 2012|work=The New York Times|accessdate=December 4, 2012}}</ref> Celeste Koeleveld, the city's executive assistant corporation counsel for public safety, justified the subpoena on the grounds that the film had "crossed the line from journalism to advocacy" for the wrongly convicted men.<ref name="burnssubpoena" /> In February 2013, U.S. Judge [[Ronald L. Ellis]] [[quashed]] the city's subpoena.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/ken-burns-wins-fight-new-422495|title=Ken Burns Wins Fight Against New York City Over 'Central Park Five' Research|last=Gardner|first=Eriq|work=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> *In May 2019, [[Ava DuVernay]]'s ''[[When They See Us]],'' a four-episode feature, was released on Netflix. DuVernay co-wrote and directed the drama, using actors to portray the defendants and other figures in the case, including the police, prosecutors, and families. *An opera, also called ''The Central Park Five'', is premiering in [[Long Beach, California]] by the Long Beach Opera Company in the summer of 2019. The music is by composer [[Anthony_Davis_(composer)|Anthony Davis]] and the libretto by [[Richard Wesley]]. An earlier version, ''Five'', was premiered in [[Newark, New Jersey]] by the Trilogy Company.<ref name="cooper">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/arts/music/central-park-five-opera.html|title=This Summer, Opera Grapples With Race|last=Cooper|first=Michael|work=New York Times|date=30 May 2019|access-date=8 June 2019}}</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|1980s|New York City}} * [[List of wrongful convictions in the United States]] * [[When They See Us]] - 2019 [[Netflix]] miniseries feature {{-}} ==References== {{reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== *{{cite web |url=http://entertainment.time.com/2013/01/08/qa-the-central-park-five-on/ |title=Q&A: The Wrongly Convicted Central Park Five on Their Documentary, Delayed Justice and Why They're Not Bitter |first=Madison |last=Gray |date=January 8, 2013 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] }} *{{cite book| first= Sarah |last=Burns| title=The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding| location=New York | publisher=Knopf| year=2011| isbn=0-307-26614-1}} *Connor, Tracy (October 20, 2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20041212090902/http://www.nydailynews.com/10-20-2002/news/crime_file/story/28497p-27070c.html "48 hours: Twisting trail to teens' confessions"]. '' Daily News'' (New York) *Michael F. Armstrong, et al. (January 27, 2003) [https://web.archive.org/web/20050730185004/http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/dcpi/JoggerReportfinal.pdf "NYPD Review of the Central Park Jogger Case"] *Ryan, Nancy E. (December 5, 2002) [http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/wise.pdf "Affirmation in Response to Motion to Vacate Judgement of Conviction"]. Prosecution's detailed summary of the case. *{{cite book| first= Timothy |last=Sullivan| title=Unequal Verdicts: The Central Park Jogger Trials| location=New York | publisher=Simon & Schuster| year=1992| isbn=0-671-74237-X}} *{{cite book| title=Manhattan North Homicide: Detective First Grade| last=McKenna| first=Thomas| publisher=St Martin's Press | year=1996 | isbn=0-312-14010-X}} * {{cite news | title=Central Park Jogger case forever changed innocent victims & the city | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/12/2009-04-12_dark_day_forever_changed_innocent_victims__the_city.html | first=Patrice | last=O'Shaughnessy | date=April 12, 2009 | accessdate=April 12, 2009 | work=Daily News | location=New York | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415133918/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/12/2009-04-12_dark_day_forever_changed_innocent_victims__the_city.html | archive-date=April 15, 2009 | dead-url=yes | df=mdy-all }} Editorials: *"[http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/the_central_park_five_again_ypsXFhzI4mhhLz0EEKF9kO The Central Park five, again]", ''[[New York Post]]'', April 21, 2011 *"[http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130409/OPINION/130409248/1074 11 Years is Too Long to Wait for Resolution]", ''[[The Buffalo News]]'', April 9, 2013 ==External links== *[https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.nysd.240864 Case docket: In re McRay, Richardson, Santana, Wise and Salaam Litigation] *{{IMDb title|2380247}} {{Central Park}} [[Category:1989 crimes in the United States]] [[Category:1989 in New York City]] [[Category:April 1989 events]] [[Category:Central Park]] [[Category:Crimes in New York City]] [[Category:Donald Trump controversies]] [[Category:False confessions]] [[Category:Incidents of violence against women]] [[Category:Overturned convictions in the United States]] [[Category:Race-related controversies in the United States]] [[Category:Race and crime in the United States]] [[Category:Rapes in the United States]]'