Draft:Central Park Five

The Central Park jogger case was a criminal case based on the assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a 28-year-old, white woman who was jogging in the park, and attacks on eight other persons in the North Woods of Manhattan's Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. Meili, an investment banker, was so injured that she was in a coma for 12 days. At the time of the first trial in 1990, The New York Times described the attack on her as "one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s".

Debate over participation in the rape
Although the convictions were vacated in 2012, there is still debate over whether the five participated in the rape of the jogger. The main arguments in support of the thesis that the five participated in the rape are contained in the Armstrong Report, a report written by a panel commissioned by the New York City Police Department. The main arguments against the theory that the five did not participate in the rape are contained in the Motion to Vacate by Nancy E. Ryan, Assistant District Attorney.

The Armstrong Report argues that "the inconsistencies  contained  in  the  various  statements  were  not  such  as  to  destroy  their  reliability.", that the most likely scenario was one in which the defendants attacked the jogger, and Mr. Reyes, drawn by her screams, either joined in the attack as it was ending or waited until the defendants had moved on to their next victims before descending upon her himself, raping her and inflicting upon her the brutal injuries that almost caused her death. and concludes that "there was no misconduct on the part of the New York City Police Department in the arrests and interrogations of the defendants,''.

Vegetation Evidence
As stated in the Ryan report: "Beginning at  the  edge  of  the  roadway  was  a  visible  path  of  flattened  vegetation,  measuring  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  inches  wide, which extended to the treeline that began forty feet to the north." Reporter Jim Dwyer argues that "In that trail, there is neither room for, nor trace of, five people." The Ryan report concludes that it is "more consistent with a single attacker dragging an inert form than with a group."

DNA Evidence
As the Ryan report explains: "DNA evidence was extracted from semen deposited on the jogger's sock,  found  near  her  at  the  crime  scene.    It  did  not  match any of the defendants, or any other known sample.*  The same was true of DNA evidence extracted from a cervical swab;  it did not  match  the  defendants  or  any  other  known  sample.    Expert  testimony  at  trial,  however,  established  that  the  DNA  from  both  the  victim  and  the  sock  appeared  to  have  come  from  the  same  source.    Testimony  also  established  that  the  DNA  was  not  a  mixture;    it  was  from  a  single  source,  meaning  that  only  one  individual  had  ejaculated.    A  pubic  hair  found  on  the  sock  was  also  examined  microscopically.    It  was  likewise  found  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  defendants  and  every  other  known  source.  The  known  samples  included  samples  from  all  of  the  individuals  whom the defendants had specifically named as rapists." Although it is technically possible that multiple people raped the victim without leaving detectable DNA (as the defendants claimed in their confessions) it is very unlikely.

Internal inconsistencies of the confessions
The Ryan report argues the confessions are likely false on the ground that: "the accounts given by the five defendants differed from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime -- who initiated the attack, who knocked the victim down, who undressed her, who struck her, who held her, who raped her, what weapons were used in the course of  the  assault,  and  when  in  the  sequence  of  events  the  attack took place."

External inconsistencies of the confessions
In addition to being inconsistent with each other, the confessions are incompatible with the physical evidence. As the Ryan report points out, the defendants claimed to have hit the jogger with a pipe, "struck her in the face with a brick", and "cut her leg with a knife". None of these things happened. Kharey Wise claimed that the victims clothes "had been cut off" when in fact they had not been. Kevin Richardson claimed the victims bra "was ripped off" when in reality it was still on the victim when she was found. None of the defendants mentioned robbing the victim even though the removal of the insole from the victims shoe suggests she was searched for cash. Similarly, none of the defendants were able to accurately describe where the attack took place while being able to accurately describe the location of the other crimes they were accused of that night.

Timeline issues
"Shortly after  their  initial  entry  into  the  park,  the  larger  group  of  which  the  defendants were a part temporarily split up.  As a result, not all of the defendants participated both in the incidents that occurred along the East Drive and in the attacks at the reservoir;  but at least some of them did.  Given the times when each of those events were  estimated  to  have  occurred,  it  is  difficult  to  construct  a  scenario  that  would  have  allowed  the  defendants  the  time  to  interrupt  their  progression  south,  detour  to  the  102nd  Street  transverse, and commit a gang rape."

Reyes Confession
In February 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to beating and raping the victim by himself. Reyes was able to accurately recall the direction the jogger was coming from and her clothing, his description of the initial strike to the back of the joggers head is consistent with the physical evidence, he correctly remembered that the victim was wearing a headset and Walkman, he correctly described the location of the attack and the terrain covered while dragging the jogger, Reyes confessed to stealing the joggers keys in order to burglarize her apartment which would explain why her keys were missing. Reyes described throwing the victims clothes which is consistent with how they were dispersed at the crime scene. Reyes stated he beat the victim with a rock on the head, this is consistent with the lacerations on her head and the skull fractures as well as the rock that was found with what is believed to be the victims blood and hair on it.

Physical Evidence Linking Reyes to the Attack
Reyes DNA was found on the sock found at the crime scene. A wound on the victims left cheek contained what looked like an imprint of a ring worn by Reyes.

Evidence supporting the claim that Reyes acted alone
Between June and August of 1989 Reyes stalked, raped, robbed five white women, murdering one of them and was jailed for those crimes. All those prior attacks were performed alone. Reyes also confessed to sex crimes he committed which he was not arrested. In particular he attacked, beat, raped and robbed a 26 year old white woman who had been exercising in central park two days before the attack on the Central Park jogger. The attack was confirmed to have occurred and the victim was tracked down and interviewed. A group attack would be inconsistent with Reyes' criminal history. Similarly, no link between Reyes and the five defendants could be found. When Santana, Richardson and Briscoe were shown a picture of Reyes, they were unable to recognize him.