In 1989 five teenager boys African Americans, and one latino male were arrested and charged with the assault of Trisha Meili. She became known as the Central Park Jogger, and the case became known as the Central Park 5. The case was high publicized, and appeared in about 400 newspapers and journals.
There were confessions, but latter the teenagers stated that they were coerced into confessing for crimes that they did not commit. The confessions came after hours of psychological pressure, and aggressive interrogation by New York City homicide detectives. The five teenagers; Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, and Raymond Santana Jr., became the Central Park Five. They were 14, 15, and 16 at the time. They were tried as adults, and served close to 7 to 13 years in prison.
They were exonerated in 2002, when Matias Reyes, a serial rapist confessed to the crime. A DNA analysis linked Reyes to the crime. Reyes confessed that he acted alone. The confession by Reyes that acted alone signified that the attack on the jogger in Central Park was not a gang rape. His confession showed that the case of the Central Park Five was in fact fabricated, by politicians, media headlines, etc.
At the time Donald Trump took out ads in several newspapers calling for the death penalty of the five teenagers. In the interview with CNN’s Larry King he asks Donald Trump if he was prejudging.
The boys-to-men were released from prison and exonerated in 2002. In 2003 they sued the City of New York.
In 2012 they settled, and were awarded $41 million for wrongful conviction. The men known as the Central Park Five will now get their $41million from the city for their wrongful convictions. They boys-to-men were not able to get compensation while Mayor Michael Bloomberg was mayor of New York City. seemed determined that the boys-to-men, wrongfully convicted and then exonerated, would get no compensation under his watch.
A movie about the Central Park 5 case is set to be released in 2019. What happened in 1989 is going to be re-examined again.
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