New York City is set to settle the "Central Park Jogger" lawsuit and will pay $40 million to the five people who were wrongly convicted.
In 1989, a 28-year old investor banker, Patricia Meili, was attacked, beaten, raped and left to die in New York's Central Park. After the incident, Meili suffered amnesia and does not recount what exactly happened and who committed the crime.
However, in 1990, five teenagers - Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson and Raymond Santana - were convicted for the crime. The attack soon gained national prominence and became known as the "Central Park Jogger" case. The lawsuit attracted a lot of attentions as the victim was white, while all the five assailants were either Black or Hispanic.
All the believed attackers were between the age of 14 and 16 when the rape took place. However, all the alleged attackers claim that they admitted to the crime due to lengthy and pressurizing police interrogations. All five men served between 6 and 13 years. However, the trial is said to be based only on the testimony given by the five convicted, even though semen sample obtained from the crime scene did not match any of the five criminals.
In 2002, a man named Matias Reyes admitted that he alone raped Meili in 1989. The five men were found not guilty and were released. In 2003, the five wrongly convicted people sued New York City for wrongfully convicting them and violating their civil rights. The lawsuit confirmed that the five wrongly convicted were seeking $250 million from the city as damages.
A Reuters report cites people familiar with the matter and says that New York City has agreed to pay $40 million instead of $250 million in damages.
"The settlement still requires approval from the city's comptroller and from the federal judge in Manhattan who has overseen the case, Deborah Batts. As in most cases in which the city settles civil rights claims, the municipal government likely will not admit wrongdoing" per Reuters.
Even though the five men have been vindicated of their crime, doctors who took care of the victim suggest that there is still more to the case. Reyes' testimony suggests that he did not use any sharp weapon when he attacked Meili. However, the doctors involved with treating Meili say that the wounds on her body were caused by sharp as well as blunt objects. The doctors believe that Reyes was not alone and was accompanied by someone else.
Reyes was not prosecuted in the case as the statute of limitations had expired.
