NYC will pay $41M to five men who served time in Central Park jogger case, but admits no liability
A federal magistrate judge in New York has OK’d a settlement in which New York City will pay $41 million to five men who were wrongfully convicted and served time for a brutal 1989 rape and beating in Central Park.
However, the city admits no liability for the conviction and jailing of Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise, according to the New York Times (reg. req.) and the New York Daily News.
The men, known as the Central Park Five, said police fabricated evidence and coerced confessions. They were teenagers at the time of the trial, which captured international attention. Four of the men served about seven years in prison each; Korey Wise served 13.
Their convictions were eventually overturned after Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist and murderer, admitted to authorities that he alone had attacked the Central Park jogger. Reyes’ DNA was matched to evidence left at the crime scene.
Related coverage:
New York Magazine: “Central Park Revisited”
NBC News: “I am the Central Park Jogger”
PBS: “The Central Park Five”
