Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Central Park 5 Lawsuit Against City Put On Hold By Judge To Work Out Settlement


The Central Park Five, as seen in a PBS documentary, will have their $250 million lawsuit against the city put on hold while Mayor de Blasio’s administration gets a handle on the case.
The Central Park Five, as seen in an extraordinary PBS documentary, will have their $250 million lawsuit against the city put on hold while Mayor de Blasio’s administration gets a handle on the case. The lawsuit, brought by five men who were wrongly convicted in the infamous 1989 Central Park jogger rape case, got put on pause at the request of lawyers from both sides in order to work out a settlement.

Convicted rapist and murderer Matias Reyes eventually confessed to the brutal attack of 28-year-old investment banker Trisha Meili on April 19, 1989 while she jogged near 103rd Street.

The men filed suit in 2003 after their convictions were overturned.  The Bloomberg administration had refused to settle the case and instead wasted more than $ 6 million in tax dollars defending it.

Mayor de Blasio has vowed to settle the case.

Manhattan

The lawsuit brought by five men wrongly convicted of the infamous 1989 Central Park jogger rape was put on hold Tuesday so the city can work out a settlement.

Manhattan Federal Judge Ronald Ellis took the action at the request of lawyers for both the city and the plaintiffs to allow the de Blasio administration to get a handle on the case.

Footage taken shortly after the 1989 incident shows some of the then-teenage members of the Central Park Five being moved around by police.

Footage taken shortly after the 1989 incident shows some of the then-teenage members of the Central Park Five being moved from a police Pct. by cops.  (screen grab:  IFCFILMSTUBE VIA YOUTUBE)

Mayor de Blasio has vowed to settle the $250 million lawsuit, which was brought 11 years ago.


RELATED: CITY SPENT $6 MILLION IN CENTRAL PARK JOGGER CIVIL CASE: REPORT


"It's our intention to work as hard as we can in the next 30 days to achieve (a settlement)," Jonathan Moore, a lawyer for several of the plaintiffs, said in court Tuesday.

Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, now in their 40s, had their convictions thrown out in 2002 when Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist and murderer behind bars for other crimes, confessed and DNA evidence confirmed his guilt in the case.

Read More:

New York Daily News - January 21, 2014 - By Daniel Beekman    



1 comment:

  1. All should read the book. It is well laid out in terms of timeline and fact. Do recognize though it is written by a person on the defense team so it is a bit biased but not nearly so much as the officers who initially investigated the case.

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