Central Park Five

Central Park Five

The Central Park Five were Harlem teens Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise. Ages 14 to 16, the teens were accused of bludgeoning, raping, and leaving to die a 28-year-old female jogger in New York's Central Park. The jogger was later learned to be Trisha Meili, an investment banker at Salomon Brothers. The media called the attack a brutal "wilding" by out of control youth.

The teens had been picked up in a police sweep of the park and conveniently were already in custody when the victim was found. All the teens except Salaam confessed to the crime on videotape. The prosecution would admit 13 years later that the confessions “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 raped her, what weapons were used in the course of the assault and when the sequence of the events in the attack took place.” The victim was knocked unconscious and was not able to identify any attacker. All five were convicted at trial solely because of the confessions.

No DNA evidence tied the suspects to the crime, so the prosecution's case rested almost entirely on the confessions. [1] In fact, analysis indicated that the DNA collected at the crime scene did not match any of the suspects—and that the crime-scene DNA had all come from a single, as-yet-unknown person. [6]

In 1990, following the convictions, DNA tests on semen found inside and on the victim, showed that it not did match any of the Central Park Five. The test results received little publicity and the recovered semen was attributed to a sixth "mystery" member of the gang. In January 2002, Matias Reyes, 31, a serial rapist, confessed to committing the crime alone. DNA test results matched Reyes and the convictions of the five were vacated. The five had already served their seven to thirteen year juvenile sentences. At least three were denied parole for maintaining their innocence in the crime.

References

*American Justice: The Central Park Jogger
*Innocence Project: [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/252.php Salaam] , [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/243.php Richardson] , [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/208.php McCray] , [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/255.php Santana] , [http://innocenceproject.org/Content/298.php Wise]
* [http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/McCray_NY.htm Center on Wrongful Convictions]
*Connor, Tracy (October 20, 2002) "48 hours: Twisting trail to teens' confessions". " New York Daily News" [http://www.nydailynews.com/10-20-2002/news/crime_file/story/28497p-27070c.html]
*cite book| author= Timothy Sullivan| title=Unequal Verdicts: The Central Park Jogger Trials| location=New York | publisher=Simon & Schuster| year=1992| id=ISBN 0-671-74237-X
*Ryan, Nancy E. (December 5, 2002) "Affirmation in Response to Motion to Vacate Judgement of Conviction" [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/cpjoggera1.html]
*" [http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/n_7836/ Central Park Revisited] " New York Magazine.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Central Park Jogger case — The Central Park Jogger case involved an assault and rape that took place in New York City s Central Park on April 19, 1989. The victim was Trisha Meili. Five juvenile males were tried and convicted for the crime. The convictions were vacated in… …   Wikipedia

  • Central Park (shopping complex) — Central Park is a shopping complex in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with over 255 businesses. The complex is located near the intersection of Interstate 95 and State Route 3. Many national big box stores, restaurants, and smaller local businesses… …   Wikipedia

  • Central Park — Infobox park park=Central Park image size=275px caption=The Lake and Bow Bridge type=Urban park location=Manhattan, New York City coordinates=coord|40|46|55|N|73|57|58|W|display=title,inline|region:US type:landmark|name=Central Park size acre=843 …   Wikipedia

  • Central Park Be-In — Between 1967 and 1968 several be ins were held in Central Park to protest against various issues such as US involvement in the Vietnam War and racism. This park was a place where all of the different types of people that New York contained could… …   Wikipedia

  • Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park — The Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park, occupy the almost flat site of the intractably [In Egbert Viele s rejected plan for Central Park, of which the inadequacies prompted the design competition of 1857 58, the civil engineer considered… …   Wikipedia

  • The Ramble and Lake, Central Park — The Ramble and Lake in Central Park together form an inseparable central feature of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux s Greensward plan (1857) to provide a Central Park for New York City. The Ramble was intended as a woodland walk through… …   Wikipedia

  • 55 Central Park West — Infobox nrhp name = 55 Central Park West nrhp type=cp caption = location = Manhattan, Upper West Side, New York City, New York, USA lat degrees = 40 lat minutes = 46 lat seconds = 19 lat direction = N long degrees = 73 long minutes = 58 long… …   Wikipedia

  • Five Points, Manhattan — Five Points intersection painted by George Catlin in 1827; the triangular building in the center is located on what would be known as Paradise Square , Anthony Street veers off on right, Cross Street on the left and Orange Street runs left to… …   Wikipedia

  • Central Harlem — est une partie du quartier de Harlem qui se situe dans Upper Manhattan, à New York. Il est délimité par la 110e rue au sud, la 155e rue au nord, la Cinquième Avenue à l est, et St. Nicholas Avenue à l ouest. Central Harlem correspond donc à la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Five Minarets in New York — Theatrical Poster by Emrah Yücel Directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”