Central Park Jogger Case: Forgotten Victims

One spring night, twenty years ago two tragedies occurred in Central Park. Trisha Meili, a white 28-year-old woman out for an evening jog, was raped, brutally beaten and left for dead. And five African American and Latino youths (aged 14 to 16) were picked up by the police, arrested and, later, wrongfully convicted for a crime they did not commit.

Most New Yorkers remember Meili, who was known for 14 years as the Central Park Jogger. She was, the media said, young, pretty, and successful. Her promising future had been cut short. Our hearts went out to her. When Meili's book, I Am The Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility, came out in 2003 she was interviewed by CNN's Larry King; the media celebrated her resilience and her new direction in life. Meili had quit her job on Wall Street to devote herself to helping other crime victims recover. She has since become, her web site says, "one of the most sought out inspirational speakers on the lecture circuit." She has been showered with accolades and awards. Recently, the 20th commemoration of the attack, has prompted renewed attention. Next Sunday, June 28th, the five-mile "Hope and Possibility" run, inspired by Meili, and organized to help people with disabilities, will be held in Central Park.

The stories of the young teenagers convicted of raping Meili have been all but forgotten. They spent between 7 and 13 years in jail, three of them repeatedly being denied parole because they insisted on their innocence. When released, they were registered as sexual offenders. In 2002, they were exonerated when Matias Reyes, the real rapist (his DNA matched evidence found on the victim) confessed to the crime. Reyes, a brutal, convicted serial rapist insisted that he committed the crime alone. Nevertheless the lawsuit instigated against the city for wrongful conviction by the former defendants has lingered in the courts for six years. Why? Because many people still think they're guilty. Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise, have never been given a chance to recover.

At the time of the trial they were vilified by the media, which depicted them as inchoate, predatory animals. It didn't matter that there was no physical evidence - not a drop of blood or a speck of mud -- linking them to the bludgeoned rape victim. Four of the defendants had confessed. That their confessions were wildly inconsistent and inaccurate didn't sway the court. They were out there in the park doing bad things (as if it were pointless differentiating shoplifting from holding a gun to a cashiers head and shooting). "Lock them up!" the media ranted. "Execute them!" people demanded. Donald Trump took out full-page newspaper ads advocating reinstatement of the death penalty.

The jogger case has personal resonance for me. As a child, I was mugged in the park several times and, on one occasion, almost gang-raped at knifepoint near the spot were the Meili was found unconscious (in my case a mounted policeman arrived in the nick of time).

That was in full daylight in the 1970s, a time when racial mistrust and rancor ruled. The city was broke and Central Park was a kind of derelict carnival ground. Hippies, drug dealers, street musicians as well as gangs of juvenile delinquents roamed the thread-bare lawns. Private school students, like myself, were regimented into carefully guarded lines when we entered the park for afternoon sports. I attended a Catholic school near the Guggenheim Museum. We wore blue blazers, gray flannels and loafers. After school we were easy targets. But people of every race and background were victims. Hundreds of robberies, physical assaults and lesser numbers of more violent crimes occurred every year in Central Park. It was a dangerous place and remained so in 1989 when crack was taking over the city and Meili was ambushed.

The jogger case was a turning point. In 1990, David N. Dinkins became the first African American mayor of the city, promising racial reconciliation. Mayor Rudy Giuliani's rule of law and order followed. Flusher economic times supported a vital, growing minority middle class. The park was spruced up. Beds of flowers were planted. The tall chain link fence that surrounded the reservoir came down. And so did the crime rate. According to police statistics, violent crime in the park, steadily diminishing since Dinkin's time as mayor, has this year, so far, hit zero. Not a single robbery or assault. These days, in good weather, scores of young men and women jog after work in the park until 10 o'clock at night. It's only later, approaching midnight, when there are few, if any, people around that we pedestrians walking our dogs, become wary. Unexpectedly, the old memories, the fears and suspicions return in a flash.

Perhaps there is good reason to be cautious, The economy is once again in trouble. The city is in debt and unemployment is on the rise. The past does not seem quite as far away as it once did, our hard fought for civility appears to be more fragile.

It's something to remember next Sunday when the participants in Meili's Achilles Track Club race event for the disabled will be among the tens of thousands of people of every race and nationality that fill the park's paths, lawns and sports fields on the weekends. Symbolically, Central Park represents our democracy's great potential. It's a place where we all own a piece of Arcady. Let's applaud Meili's remarkable and brave recovery, and the determined achievements of those with disabilities, but we should also remember the futures that were robbed from these five young men. Isn't it time the city gave them and their families - some have children of their own now -- a chance to recover their future, their right to hope and possibility?

 

 

Comments

[Usama]

This is a tragedy for all involved. Its also necessary to point out the grave injustices committed against these 5 men innocent of the crime for which they were persecuted. But this is a national trend wherein men, in particular minority men, are devalued almost as reciprocity in order to advance women. Here in Orlando FL, several months, countless news hours, millions of public funds, and 10s of millions of media dollars were spent on the one case of Casey Anthony. Meanwhile, the Orlando metro area had one of its homocide rates ever with most of the murders being minority latino and black men. Moreover, only a few 1000 dollars were spent on investigating their lives compared to the millions on Casey Anthony.

Moreover, the high school graduation rate for black and latino males is only 48% http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_48.htm

The incarceration rate for black males 18-25 is around 4500 in 100,000 while 1700 in 100,000 for latino males, and 800 in 100,000 white males in that age range.

Meanwhile China graduates 350,000 engineers each year. America has chosen to abandon minority males increasingly so. More and more, corporations opt to outsource or contract with foreign work forces rather than invest in American youth. If you aren't convinced yet, simply watch the Dickensian masterpiece of modern life: The Wire.
The fate of these 5 men may very well become an obscure footnote on local news, but their fate foreshadows that of America.

[LLNYRN]

This was the incident that caused me to leave New York for a while (became 14 years). You could see the constant inconsistencies of law enforcement (forced video confessions, DNA not belonging to the youths, but that of Meili's boyfriend so it was intially said) and the outright, brutal treatment of these kids by the press, politicians, and others that was steeped in victriolic racism.
The Central Park Jogger case was the Scottsboro Case on a higher, disgusting level.
I still get angry about it.
Because I know these young men will NEVER receive an apology, compensation or the true justice due them.
And that I as a BLACK MAN will never be seen as anything other than CRIMINAL, RAPIST, ABUSER OF WOMEN, etc..
Yep. I've become much more cynical in my old age (mid-40s).

[Glyn Vincent - Huffpost Blogger]

Interesting comment LLNYRN. It is stunning that this happened in a supposedly liberal, progressive, city with a Democratic electorate in 1989-1990. Hopefully, the election of President Obama, as well as the presence of many other African-Americans in positions of power, will help gradually change the bias and misperceptions you are speaking about.

[LLNYRN]

, "...Hopefully, the election of President Obama, as well as the presence of many other African-Americans in positions of power, will help gradually change the bias and misperceptions you are speaking about."
Glyn,
Please don't take what I have to say personally,
But it's that type of hokey, "kumbaya-ism" that tends to turn my stomach.
Really, we both know that's never going to happen. And New York isn't and never was as "liberally progressive" as people think it is.
Yes New York is culturally diverse. But that diversity has been a tinderbox for decades. And has never extended to include those who could truly benefit from it.
I apologize for my deep cynicism.

[Cynthia Kling]

This is superb sad story that I had totally forgotten about - until you wrote about it with such sensitivity!
thanks!
xc

[FearlessFreep]

Particularly reprehensible was the tabloids coining the word "wilding."

[Glyn Vincent - Huffpost Blogger]

Good point Fearless.

[Magua]

This column is defly and touchingly done, wrapping a terrible tragedy with multiple victims into an ode to the spirit of Central Park. Well done and a great start for the New York HuffPo page!

[jl4141]

There's another lesson to be learned from this case. It wasn't just Matias Reyes's confession that got these kids exonerated -- it was the fact that people were able to study and pick apart their videotaped statements to ultimately determine that they were innocent.

Why they were videotaped, I don't know. It's not normally done, not in New York and not in the vast majority of American jurisdictions.

All felony interrogations should be videotaped. There are now many jurisdictions throughout the country who do so on felonies (or certain felonies) as a matter of policy, and some as a matter of state law. Videotaping interrogations helps enhance and solidify the evidence against the guilty and exonerates the innocent, thus leading to fewer trials by the guilty and fewer wrongful convictions of the innocent. It is morally the right thing to do, and, in the long run, saves money. (There are, concedely, significant up-front costs.)

Videotaping saved these young men's lives. And if Marty Tankleff's interrogation would have been videotaped, he may well never have been wrongfully convicted and had to have served 17 years falsely convicted of the murder of his own parents.

[Glyn Vincent - Huffpost Blogger]

You're right JL4141, videotaping is an excellent way of catching abuse as long as it's not edited and manipulated.

[jl4141]

Those jurisdictions that videotape have rules that preclude anything that could be deemed editing and manipulation, and experience shows that police and prosecutors do not cheat when it comes to complying with the rules. The real problem is getting law enforcement to do the video recording in the first instance.

(FYI, I've recently studied and written recommendations on this issue for a major metropolitan bar association.)