Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2014 10:13:28 GMT -4
The Central Park Five
The five black and Latino men who spent years in prison after being convicted in 1990 of raping and beating a white woman in Central Park will receive a $40 million settlement in a lawsuit they filed after their convictions were tossed out, the Associated Press is reporting.
The men, who each served six to 13 years in prison, filed a $250 million federal lawsuit against the city 10 years ago after their sentences were vacated.
•The Central Park Jogger Case 20 Years Later
The attack on a 28-year-old investment banker occurred in April 1989, when she was found in the park after being beaten and raped while jogging. She was in a coma for 12 days and was left with permanent brain damage.
The men were exonerated in 2002 after a man already jailed for other crimes confessed, and DNA evidence supported his claim.
•Ken Burns on Documentary "The Central Park Five"
The confidential deal, was first disclosed to the New York Times by a person who is a not a party in the lawsuit, must still be approved by the city comptroller and then by a federal judge.
"We will do our due diligence and provide feedback to ensure that any settlement we approve is in the best interests of the city," Eric Sumberg, a spokesman for the comptroller's office, said in a statement.
The proposed settlement averages roughly $1 million for each year of imprisonment for the men, according to the Times. Kharey Wise spent about 13 years in prison, and Kevin Richardson, Anton McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana Jr. each served about seven years in prison.
Santana has said his years in prison have left him behind as he's tried to build a normal life.
A New York City Law Department spokeswoman declined comment to NBC 4 New York. An attorney for the plaintiffs, has noted that Mayor de Blasio had previously announced that he believes the case should be settled.
Community leaders and personalities have already begun praising the settlement. The Rev. Al Sharpton commended de Blasio for working to seek a fair settlement, but said that the permanent damage by the imprisonment shouldn't be downplayed.
"One should not underestimate the permanent damage by the misuse of prosecution," Sharpton said. "Lives were devastated, families torn apart, youth stolen."
Initial reports of the crime included shocking allegations of violence and brutality, and polarized the city as they stirred racial tensions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump slams NYC for $40M Central Park Five deal while convicted rapist maintains his guilt
Trump says the city still has much to answer for over the handling of the 1989 rape of a jogger. Speaking to the Daily News from prison, confessed felon Matias Reyes insists he was the attacker and he acted alone. Raymond Santana, whose same-named son was one of the five exonerated men, says he is relieved to put the events in the past.
Donald Trump wanted to give the Central Park Five the chair.
Now he doesn’t want the city to give them a dime.
In an exclusive piece for the Daily News, Trump quoted an unnamed detective who called the $40 million settlement the city has agreed to pay the wrongfully convicted quintet “the heist of the century.”
“The recipients must be laughing out loud at the stupidity of the city,” Trump, who is worth about $4 billion, wrote. “Speak to the detectives on the case and try listening to the facts. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels.”
Trump, who fanned the racial fury against the five black and Latino teens a quarter century ago with full-page ads demanding the death penalty, also expressed no remorse for his actions.
Instead, Trump wrote, “The justice system has a lot to answer for, as does the City of New York regarding this very mishandled disaster.
C
