In April of 1989, about 30 young underage blacks picked the wrong night to go to Central Park. Most of them were just screwing around, breaking bottles, play fighting with each other. Not harmless but not exactly lethal. A few of them decided to escalate their behavior. They beat up some people, and stole and vandalized property. These are serious offenses, maybe the kinds of acts which might get you 30 to 90 days in jail, or maybe the rest of the schoolyear in Juvenile Hall. Yes these were stupid and criminal acts but they were not perpetrated by all 30 of the youngsters, and these were not crimes warranting decades of incarceration. This documentary chronicles the wrongful convictions of five juveniles, four African-Americans and one Latino, for the rape and attempted murder of a white upper-middle-class jogger, a crime which happened to take place amidst the other mayhem.
The main reason this was the wrong night for these young blacks was because, unbeknownst to them, a young professional, a Phi-Beta Kappa no less, was being raped and nearly murdered at near the same time in Central Park. She had been on a routine jog. The police rounded up five of the young blacks for disorderly conduct and destruction of property and possible assault. It appears the approximately 25 others escaped but they captured five of them and drove them to headquarters. They were going to be charged with the crimes committed by the others. Again, evidence reveals that not all of them were involved in the crimes of assault and disorderly conduct, only some of them.
But then there's a twist. Police decided the five juveniles who were arrested for the crimes committed by some of the rest of the group, destruction of property, assault, etc, had also raped and nearly murdered the jogger. NYPD was going to prove what an exemplary and model institution its police and investigation units were in not only arresting these "hoodlums" but also solving the jogger-rape case simultaneously. This was going to be a home run for NYPD. At the time, New York was fighting a crime spree.
According to the documentary, the five juveniles (the oldest was 16 while the others were 14) and their families believed they would be released. But when the story of the rape victim was entered into the gumbo of crimes, the police wanted confessions, and coerced the juveniles to cooperate. Four signed confessions and five were video-taped giving confessions which were dictated to them by the police.
First off, the suspects were juveniles. They were not given a chance to speak with their parents prior to their confessions. They were never given the opportunity to speak to an attorney which I thought was required by law. An attorney could have told them that any taped, video-taped and/or signed confession could be used against them in a court of law. However they were told that if they wanted to "go home" they had to sign the confessions. They had been in custody for about a day and a half, which is an eternity to most youngster that age. Almost none of their confessions matched up with the others and even contradicted known facts about the rape. They did accuse the others of committing the rape. Also, a DNA test of the rapist's sperm didn't match any of the five. No worries, said the prosecutors. We'll say there was 6th as yet unknown assailant. Trouble was, the confessions didn't describe a sixth rapist.
The only evidence linking them to this specific crime was their signed confessions. Unfortunately the jury found their confessions credible and found them guilty. Only one juror dissented but was persuaded by the others to go along, according to this juror's interview. Not only was the NYPD convinced of their guilt, all the country believed they were guilty in the court of public opinion. Only after more the five served more than 10 years in prison did the true perpetrator, who actually continued to rape and murder after the initial crime, confess to raping the jogger. But even then, several of the prosecutors wanted to "hold" to their belief in the original five's guilt.
Investigators and prosecutors Elizabeth Lederer and Linda Fairstein appear to be instrumental in the coercion of wrongful and fabricated "confessions" by the five. Because of the new Netflix docudrama "When They See Us", public opinion has turned against them. Fairstein in particular, a writer of mystery novels, was dropped by her publisher. Some posted online that it was "unfair" that Lederer's and Fairstein's lives be ruined by only "one mistake". That one mistake cost five teenagers the rest of their childhood and part of their adulthood. Also consider, that that's not how the judicial system operates. Even if someone gave millions to charity, if you shoot someone in cold blood, whatever wonderful things you may have done before have little or no baring on the case, except maybe you might get a more lenient sentence. Careers are typically destroyed by convictions. So to convict someone else wrongfully is actually a crime, and it seems the prosecutors and police who were involved should have faced some kind of penalties for not allowing the suspects at least the opportunity to speak to an attorney. Being forced to resign would be minimal! Lederer in particular still works with NYPD. I guarantee anyone reading this would want the right to consult with an attorney to be honored if they were ever arrested for a crime they didn't commit. It's easy to say "let the guilty hang!" until it's you.
The main reason this was the wrong night for these young blacks was because, unbeknownst to them, a young professional, a Phi-Beta Kappa no less, was being raped and nearly murdered at near the same time in Central Park. She had been on a routine jog. The police rounded up five of the young blacks for disorderly conduct and destruction of property and possible assault. It appears the approximately 25 others escaped but they captured five of them and drove them to headquarters. They were going to be charged with the crimes committed by the others. Again, evidence reveals that not all of them were involved in the crimes of assault and disorderly conduct, only some of them.
But then there's a twist. Police decided the five juveniles who were arrested for the crimes committed by some of the rest of the group, destruction of property, assault, etc, had also raped and nearly murdered the jogger. NYPD was going to prove what an exemplary and model institution its police and investigation units were in not only arresting these "hoodlums" but also solving the jogger-rape case simultaneously. This was going to be a home run for NYPD. At the time, New York was fighting a crime spree.
According to the documentary, the five juveniles (the oldest was 16 while the others were 14) and their families believed they would be released. But when the story of the rape victim was entered into the gumbo of crimes, the police wanted confessions, and coerced the juveniles to cooperate. Four signed confessions and five were video-taped giving confessions which were dictated to them by the police.
First off, the suspects were juveniles. They were not given a chance to speak with their parents prior to their confessions. They were never given the opportunity to speak to an attorney which I thought was required by law. An attorney could have told them that any taped, video-taped and/or signed confession could be used against them in a court of law. However they were told that if they wanted to "go home" they had to sign the confessions. They had been in custody for about a day and a half, which is an eternity to most youngster that age. Almost none of their confessions matched up with the others and even contradicted known facts about the rape. They did accuse the others of committing the rape. Also, a DNA test of the rapist's sperm didn't match any of the five. No worries, said the prosecutors. We'll say there was 6th as yet unknown assailant. Trouble was, the confessions didn't describe a sixth rapist.
The only evidence linking them to this specific crime was their signed confessions. Unfortunately the jury found their confessions credible and found them guilty. Only one juror dissented but was persuaded by the others to go along, according to this juror's interview. Not only was the NYPD convinced of their guilt, all the country believed they were guilty in the court of public opinion. Only after more the five served more than 10 years in prison did the true perpetrator, who actually continued to rape and murder after the initial crime, confess to raping the jogger. But even then, several of the prosecutors wanted to "hold" to their belief in the original five's guilt.
Investigators and prosecutors Elizabeth Lederer and Linda Fairstein appear to be instrumental in the coercion of wrongful and fabricated "confessions" by the five. Because of the new Netflix docudrama "When They See Us", public opinion has turned against them. Fairstein in particular, a writer of mystery novels, was dropped by her publisher. Some posted online that it was "unfair" that Lederer's and Fairstein's lives be ruined by only "one mistake". That one mistake cost five teenagers the rest of their childhood and part of their adulthood. Also consider, that that's not how the judicial system operates. Even if someone gave millions to charity, if you shoot someone in cold blood, whatever wonderful things you may have done before have little or no baring on the case, except maybe you might get a more lenient sentence. Careers are typically destroyed by convictions. So to convict someone else wrongfully is actually a crime, and it seems the prosecutors and police who were involved should have faced some kind of penalties for not allowing the suspects at least the opportunity to speak to an attorney. Being forced to resign would be minimal! Lederer in particular still works with NYPD. I guarantee anyone reading this would want the right to consult with an attorney to be honored if they were ever arrested for a crime they didn't commit. It's easy to say "let the guilty hang!" until it's you.