| Abstract |
On April 20th, 1989, two passersby discovered the mangled body of a "Central Park jogger" crumpled in a ravine. Within days five black and Latino teenagers were apprehended, all five confessing to the crime of raping and beating the victim. The staggering torrent of media coverage that ensued, coupled with fierce public outcry, exposed the deep-seated race and class divisions in New York City at the time. The minors were tried and convicted as adults despite no evidence linking them to the victim. They served their complete sentences before another man confessed. Over a decade later, when DNA tests connected serial rapist Matias Reyes to the crime, the government, law enforcement, social institutions and media of New York were exposed as having undermined the individuals they were designed to protect. Here, the author recounts this historic case for the first time since the young men's convictions were overturned, telling, at last, the full story of one of New York's most legendary crimes. Intertwining the stories of these five young men, the police officers, the district attorneys, the victim, and Reyes, she unravels the forces that made both the crime and its prosecution possible. |
