Clarence Page on the Central Park Jogger Case and Videotaped confessions:
...[B]oosting [Reyes'] credibility, police say his DNA matches the semen found on the jogger's sock, which turns out to be the only physical evidence turned up in the case. (A blonde hair on one suspect and believed at first to belong to the victim turned out to be a mismatch.) At the time, prosecutors downplayed the glaring fact that their DNA evidence did not match any of the suspects they had turned up. They also downplayed the curious fact that none of their suspects had any blood on their persons, despite the large amount of blood that soaked the scene and the victim's clothing. If they were indeed guilty, they had to be the neatest marauding teenagers that history has ever known.
Without hard evidence and with some conflicts in witness accounts, the case rested mainly on the videotaped confessions that were signed by the defendants and their parents, confessions they and their lawyers now say were coerced. Now lawyers for at least three of those who were convicted are trying to have the verdicts set aside. A judge has given the Manhattan district attorney until Oct. 21 to respond.
I can only imagine that the police who investigated this case wish they had videotaped not only the confessions but also the interrogations, as numerous judicial reformers wish they and other law enforcers would. If the police are speaking truthfully when they say they used no unfair coercion, the tape would show it. A judge and jury would be impressed. The complainants would have no case.
That's the side of the videotape argument that gets too little attention. While video acts to protect the rights of defendants, it also helps protect police and the prosecution from charges like coercion that sometimes sway jurors to decide against an otherwise solid case.
Videotaped interrogations was a major recommendation issued by Illinois Governor George Ryan's Commission on Capital Punishment, after an excessive amount of wrongful death-row convictions moved the governor to put a moratorium on executions. It was a wise suggestion that other agencies should follow.
Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting for A Trump Apology
A group of protesters picketed outside Trump Tower on Saturday, blasting developer Donald Trump for pro-death penalty ads he took out in 1989 prompted in part by the rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park.
[ ... ]
On Saturday, about two dozen protesters gathered outside Trump's office tower in Manhattan, asserting the innocence of the teenagers and passing out fliers claiming Trump's ads prevented the teens from getting a fair trial.
[ ... ]
"In the interest of justice, Donald Trump must come forward and say, 'I got caught up in the hysteria,"' said Dave Daniels, one of the protesters.
How the Manhattan Dropped the Ball and Framed Black, Latino Teens:
Besides the attack on the jogger, [Matias] Reyes told officials about another incident for which he had not been prosecuted.
On the afternoon of April 17, 1989, a Monday, a woman in her 20's went to do tai chi exercises in an area of Central Park called Fish Fort, off 106th Street. A young man strolled up and began chatting with her. Something in his manner made the woman uncomfortable, she later told detectives, so she moved to leave. Then the man pounced. He beat her face and head, pulled off her clothes and assaulted her sexually until another man, hearing the woman's screams, arrived on the scene. The attacker fled. The woman's injuries were so severe that she was admitted to St. Luke's Hospital and spent at least two nights there, officials said.
While that case received virtually no attention in the news media, one that followed two days later and about two blocks south generated headlines around the world. A 28-year-old investment banker, jogging after work, was dragged from the road, raped, and beaten so badly about the head that she nearly died. She was found in a muddy ravine near 104th Street.
Those two rapes, on April 17 and April 19, were the second and third of the year in the Central Park precinct. The investigation into the April 17 attack was handled by the sex crimes unit of the Police Department. Detectives from another unit, Manhattan North Homicide, oversaw the investigation into the attack on the jogger, because her condition was so grave that officials originally expected that she would not survive.
For reasons that are not clear, investigators say, there is no sign that the information about the April 17 rape was turned over to the detectives handling the attack on the jogger.
[ From the Sept/Oct 2002 issue of Mother Jones ] :
Biking While Black; or, Meanwhile, Back on the Plantation
Like many sweeping cases, this one started small. In 1995, several months after moving from Detroit to predominantly white Eastpointe, Davon King, then 12, and his older brother, Charlie, 14, were riding to a neighborhood store. A police car pulled up and an officer shouted at them to stop. Black kids were stealing bikes in Eastpointe and taking them to Detroit, the officer told them. He asked for their names, IDs, and bike registrations, then waved them on.
On This Date:
On the the morning that [the Manhattan DA and defense] were set to start picking a jury, October 7, 1991, the defense attorney said that [Matias] Reyes wanted to plead guilty. Judge Galligan's plea offer was thirty-three years to life, the longest sentence we prosecutors had ever heard of on a plea bargain. A plea bargain would spare the victims the agony of reliving their encounters with Reyes and would eliminate the uncertainty that accompanies any criminal trial. Both the prosecution and the defense accepted the plea bargain, and Matias Reyes plead guilty.
Three weeks later, Reyes was sentenced . At sentencing, Judge Galligan made a record in court of his recommendation to the parole board that Reyes never be paroled, that he spend the rest of his life in jail. Reyes punched his lawyer and knocked him to the floor before he was led away to beging serving his sentence for rape and homicide.
At the time that Reyes was sentenced in 1991, the new genetic evidence that had played a crucial role in sending him to prison for life was just gaining wide acceptance. A new technology, it had been used to solve a murder case in 1987. The story of the discovery of DNA analysis and that first use brings together science at its most wondrous and crime at its most heinous.
-- from Chapter 1/Breakthrough (pp. 15,16) : And the Blood Cried Out: A Prosecutor's Spellbinding Account of the Power of DNA by Harlan Levy, former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s office, central to the convictions of the Central Park 5.
How did I miss this dead-on column?!
Truth, Bound And Gagged by Jimmy Breslin
You have a black man in Brooklyn sodomized with a broken broomstick by white police while handcuffed in the rear. The case should be tried 35 times if you have to.
What happened on Saturday night was that a new United States attorney in Brooklyn, Roslynn R. Mauskopf, a white, right-wing Republican whose background suggests a house closing in Troy, either used her own prejudice or took directions from above to settle the case.
Deny it if you can.
[ From George ] :
The Voice: Falling in love with Jimmy Scott is wonderful.
In the process of moving, I rediscovered two "missing" Jimmy Scott CDs. I've been a fan of his for the better part of a decade after hearing him perform live on the late Frankie Crocker's show on WBLS circa '91. His haunting vocal style and semi-tragic experience in the industry is very captivating.
Update: Not responsible for feelings of depression, despair, melancholy, desparation, etc., etc., ect.
Lost and Found. Definitely check out track 7, Unchained Melody, and track 5, Dedicated to You.
"Teens' stories vary on crucial points;" or,
Black teens scared into telling lies on themselves by white authorities.
They describe her cries for help. They tell how she kicked and clawed for dear life. They recount how their pals argued over who would get to rape her next.
More than 13 years after the vicious attack on a jogger in Central Park, the videotaped confessions of four Harlem teenagers remain as chilling as ever.
Most chilling is the fact that these so-called confessions are obvious lies told by boys who were desperate to leave police custody and/or were coerced into making the false statements. Not one of the boys tells a similar story. In fact, many of the details clearly prove that there was no gang rape and that Matias Reyes most definitely acted alone:
1. Location — Antron McCray says it happened on the path surrounding the reservoir; Kevin Richardson says it occurred on a non-descript road; Raymond Santana says the rape took place west of the reservoir; Kharey Wise was interviewed twice, and in each videotaped session, he makes divergent claims about the assault. He does however agree with the location. But he had help — the policeprosecutors showed him crime scene photos and he stated that it "depicts the location" of the rape.
2. Victim Identification — McCray describes the jogger as wearing blue shorts with a white shirt; Richardson claims close cropped black biker pants, a white shirt like McCray, but in a tank top style. He also says the jogger is shorter than average with a pretty short haircut; Wise first says the jogger was wearing sweat pants, than after coaxing from Prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer, changes it to just shorts.
3. Number of assailants — Richardson and Wise (during each of his "confessions") both agree with seven or more rapists, while McCray says six and Santana claims as little as four.
4. Weapon(s) of choice — In his first interview, Wise claims a pipe was used against the jogger; McCray and Santana agree with the latter boy saying a brick was also used; in his second interview, Wise remembers that the weapons included not a pipe, but a brick like Santana and a rock (again, with extreme coaching from Lederer); Richardson saw no weapons present.
5. The Kharey Wise Factor — Most disturbing amongst all the claims was Wise's remembrance of a knife being used. There were no injuries caused by a knife found on the jogger although he claims he saw another boy cutting her legs while she was being raped.
What gives the most credence to the boys claims of coercion is the fact that they each minimized their role in the "gang rape," perhaps because the police and prosecutors tricked them into making any statement in order for them to be released from police custody. It appears that they were lied to and told if they had little contact with the jogger, they could go home after ratting on others. Each of their statements is consistent with that theory.
While many supporters of the trumped up convictions repeatedly state that all of the members of the Central Park 5 had at least one parent present during their videotaped confessions, it's an outright lie. Yusef Salaam was never videotaped and a written statement the police claim as his was never signed. McCray, Richardson and Santana were videotaped after many hours of questioning (and coaxing?) by the police and prosecutors working in tandem. The times of their confessions were just before 1 a.m., 4:40 a.m. and 2:20 a.m. respectively. And Wise, because he was 16, didn't need a parent present during questioning like the others when he was first videotaped more than two days after the attack at 12:30 p.m., April 22, 1989.
There is a gap of 75 minutes between Kharey Wise's two "confessions" with very chilling statements that should have given pause to those who are supposed to seek justice and the public-at-large:
"The whole thing I played innocent and I know I wasn't,"he explains. He says no one forced him to change his statement. Then recounts seeing Richarson hit the woman with a rock. He says he fondled her legs.
At the end of the statement, he explains again why he didn't tell the truth the first time.
"I thought about all the lies I said and all the the detective came in my face, arguing with me, cursing at me and hitting on me. I thought about it and said to myself, you know you said a lie, you said about at least 10, 20 lies. I said like from the first minute I stepped inside, all I had to do was tell the truth and I would've been home, but no, I told a lie."
[emphasis mine]
The shenanigans are so outrageous that at least two jurors believe they may have convicted three of the Central Park 5 boys wrongfully. One juror (from the first jogger trial during which McCray, Salaam and Santana were convicted) now believes that Reyes was the sole rapists and the confessions were manipulated.
"[Harold] Brueland, a state employee who lives on the upper West Side, said his gut now tells him that the teens who went to prison for the "wilding" outrage never encountered the jogger the night of April 19, 1989.
Asked whether he thinks the convictions were incorrect, he said, "Yes, I do."
"I have a feeling that they were out there causing trouble — but it may very well be that it was Matias Reyes who attacked her," Brueland said.
He's haunted by the possibility that he helped put the wrong people — Antron McCray, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam — behind bars inthe first place.
"It's terrible, and it should weigh on the DA's mind and the judge's mind and all the police officers who stood up there and testified," Brueland said.
"Don't they have any scruples?"
[ ... ]
"Brueland's change of heart is especially dramatic because he was one of the jurors who persuaded the panel's lone holdout — Ronald Gold — to vote for across-the-board convictions during 10 days of tense deliberations.
"At the time, he said, he believed police officers who testified that the boys' confessions were legitimate, and he was untroubled by inconsistencies in those statements.
[ ... ]
But viewed through the prism of the new evidence, the conflicts worry Brueland.
"It's beginning to look like words were put in their mouths," he said, theorizing that police told the suspects they could simply go home if they simply said they were at the scene. "There was much more trust given to those confessions than was warranted."
Unfortunately, the Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, hasn't been persuaded by the new evidence and the obvious misconduct of his office and assisting police detectives:
"We're talking to all the witnesses, all people who may have been witnesses but who did not testify," said Morgenthau.
That sounds more like a desperate attempt to preserve the convictions than to seek true justice in this case. I've loathed Comatose Bob for many years. The amount of respect given to this miscreant is unwarranted, suspicious and downright sickening.
After large sums of public money was used to wrongly convict the Central Park 5, in the face of Reyes's additional rapes (and eventual murder of a single mom while her child[ren] listened in an adjacent room), with racially charged hysteria responsible for large scale changes in the juvenile justice system, Bob Morgenthau wants to attempt to get the story straight?!?
"We were accused of rushing to judgment the first time. We want to be as thorough as possible this time. We are going to leave no stone unturned to get all the facts," said.
Unfortunately, thousands upon thousands were adversely affected and taxpayers will have to ante up huge sums for wrongful convictions. And it says nothing about the women that could have remained unharmed both physically and emotionally, the Central Park 5 can't get their reputations back, nor their lost years — I already see conservabloggers rationalizing the assbackwardsness of their convictions.
What must the Central Park Jogger be going through after all these years? When she was finally thisclose to moving on with her life.
No Technicalities Allowed: Central Park 5 Lawyer Wants Young Men Cleared
"I don't want anyone to be confused about this," Mr. Warren said yesterday. "It's not on the basis of legal error, it's on the basis of new evidence, which, if it had existed at the time of the trial, the outcome would be different."
Case Closed? — Police Say Evidence Used Against Black Teens "Useless"
After more than six months re-investigating the Central Park jogger case, authorities have turned up no new evidence to contradict a serial rapist's claim that he alone committed the crime for which five teens served years in prison.
In fact, a confidential police report obtained by Newsday concludes that "All forensic evidence used at trial ... [to convict the Central Park 5] has now been determined to be useless."
Instead, the NYPD report indicates that retesting of evidence supports the idea that Matias Reyes, 31, committed the April 19, 1989, rape and near-fatal attack on the jogger.
[ ... ]
There was never much evidence, beyond their own words, linking the five teens to the crime. But even less exists today, according to the report:
Authorities re-tested hairs from Kevin Richardson's underwear and pants that were identified in 1989 as similar to the jogger's -- and the new tests proved they do not belong to the victim.
Blood on a rock at the scene that was suggested to be that of the jogger's was tested again and found not to be a match. A hair recovered from the rock also believed to be the jogger's tested negative this year. (A law enforcement source said the rock had been handled by many people since the attack, possibly contaminating the DNA.)
Retesting also knocked down evidence implicating Steve Lopez, another teen. Lopez, originally charged in the case, denied involvement, and the charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to a less serious assault on a male jogger. A hair found on Lopez's shirt that was said to be similar to the victim's in 1989 was examined again and determined not to be the victim's. His sneakers, which supposedly had blood on them 13 years ago but not enough to determine the type -- produced "no blood" when tested now.
The strongest evidence against the five remains their statements describing their actions that night in the park. The report says "there are at least 12 places ... where their narratives overlap or are the same." But it also notes that parts of Reyes' account are "more accurate than the original defendants."
I'll probably post one more long post on the case and then will take a break from writing about the Central Park 5 (barring other major developments) until the hearing on Oct. 21st. It's taken too much of my time and has angered me to no end.
[ From an email list I belong to ] :
Urban Entertainment Short Films presents Pretty Boy by Alan Mitchell
An actor down on his luck is forced to give a man a blow job for money.
In other words: suck dick or starve!? Is that the only choice an able-bodied Black man has in America? A couple members called it trite, I call it homophobic ig'nance!
Update: Central Park 5
In my last long post about the case, I should have included links to Newsday's additional coverage, esp. links to transcripts and videos. Aaron was smart enough to include said links.
Clergy Urge Reversal In Jogger Case
Clergy, elected officials and community leaders on Tuesday demanded that Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau overturn the convictions of the five men accused in the rape of a Central Park jogger 13 years ago.
Morgenthau has said the case might be dismissed on a legal technicality with tensions mounting with NOW and other community groups staging separate protests at his Lower Manhattan office and City Hall.
Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Council Deputy Majority Leader(D-Harlem) and Councilman Hiram Mosserrate(D-Elmhurst) led a protest rally on the steps of City Hall saying new evidence, and not the technicality, warranted the dismissal.
He Wasn't Afraid to Be Right
"Give me his phone number," Gigante said. "I want to talk about Richardson. I want to bail him out. How bad will it look?" he asked.
"They'll make you look like the most evil man in the city."
"Then I'll go get him out early. The boy doesn't belong in jail. He belongs home with his family."
"What kind of a case do they have on him?" I asked.
"A -- case," Gigante said.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it's too pat. Nothing is this neat in life. Five boys this young raping one girl? "That never happened."
"They got a confession."
At this his voice rose. "They got what? They got nothing. They put words in the kid's mouth. They're liars."
He hung up.
At the moment, he was probably the only person in New York I knew who didn't squall with the wrath of hell that the five boys arrested should be put in the death chamber.
A few minutes later that night, I got a call from Diller.
"Did you know that Gigante is going to put up bail for Richardson?"
"He just told me. Why is he doing it for Richardson?"
"He doesn't know him. He doesn't know any of the five of them. He thinks it is a bad case. He thinks he has a duty to do something."
Youths' Denials in '89 Rape Case Cost Them Parole Chances
While they were in state prison, three of the five Harlem teenagers convicted in the 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park insisted that jury verdicts, history books and their own videotaped statements had it entirely wrong: they actually had nothing to do with the attack.
Their persistence in claiming innocence, instead of conveying remorse for the assault, cost them their best chance to reduce their prison terms, according to parole records made public yesterday.
Each of the three maintained his innocence at separate parole hearings in the 1990's, long before a murderer and serial rapist stepped forward in January to say that he alone was responsible for the attack. That assertion is under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office.
A Confession That Clarifies Nothing By Joyce Purnick
The emergence of an imprisoned murderer and serial rapist who says he beat and raped the Central Park jogger seems to bring clarity to a heinous crime.
But the confession of the man, Matias Reyes, backed up by forensic evidence, in fact makes what happened that April night in 1989 murkier than ever, and there is a good chance it will stay that way...
She gets so much wrong: Wise claimed a detective physically assaulted him in his second videotaped "confession," not just during his trial and in subsequent years; there is absolutely no evidence to support police theories that the jogger was raped by the Central Park 5 before, after or with Reyes; and most importantly, all of the statements diverged on key facts and could hardly be considered "similar" in details.
A paid journalist should think before writing.
I wanted to have a big update on the Central Park 5 case, but I'm tired, have tons of articles, books and sites to read, and to make matters worse, I was in a minor car accident tonight.
I'm just thankful that Dad and cousin L. are alright and my only complaint is a bit of soreness *fingers crossed* thus far.
I probably won't update or even pay much attention to the case till early next week when we will all read the results of Monday's (October 21st) hearing.
PS-Go tell your family, SO, friends and other loved ones that they are loved by you. And send Cecily off proper like. Hate to see you go Sis, but I, of course, understand.
UPDATE: Fixed the link to the main page for the Central Park 5 -- Okay, the only page for the Central Park 5. With a little help from friends, this site will begin utilizing Movable Type early next month. *fingers crossed*
I've enjoyed using Blogger but there are advantages to using MT and much more stability (I hope).
Don't hold me to promises, though.
UPDATE #2: Had to use IE as Blogger hides the "Post & Publish" button whenever I edit posts with more than one additional line. Even if I have to migrate to Movable Type myself, this is the last ten days, or so, for Blogger.
UPDATE: The Central Park 5 case
Several news organizations report that Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau will ask for another 30 days to review "additional forensic evidence and to interview witnesses overlooked during the original investigation" and prosecutions.
Why he needs another 30 days after having devouted so many resources to disclaim Reyes' confession and the DNA evidence that backs him up is beyond me.
There are also reports that former ADA (and current crime novelist) Linda Fairstein is pushing for Morgenthau to fight to uphold the convictions. She is supported by many ADAs that played a part in the convictions of the five teens. That is to be expected. Another faction within the DA's office — again, from numerous news reports — believes Reyes to be the lone rapist and that all rape and assault charges related to the jogger should be expunged.
I'd be surprised if Morgenthau were not to receive another delay. It would be even more shocking if the convictions were not eventually tossed. If the DA had any evidence linking the CP5 to Reyes and the rape, he would have presented it by now. He's just wasting time and delaying justice.
[ A new blogger via Jason ] :
from Androgynous Mind :: Thinking Inbetween —
I basically started this site to connect with people. I'm a lot of things, but a writer isn't one of them, so writing doesn't come that easy for me. I mean, I know words and I'm an excellent speller, but using words in a readable way - not putting anyone to sleep - is a real task to me.
Although I describe myself as a writer above, I'm really more of an editor — don't let the occasional sloppiness of this blog fool ya! Writing has never been my forte. At least not enjoyable, tight, amusing writing. I'm more of an academic or strict 5 Q writer than a novelist or short story writer.
I hope to change that within the next couple of months. My interests are diverse and I want to display some interesting, readable writing. Writing that'll inspire and will lead readers to explore new sites, literature and ideas.
UPDATE #2: The Central Park 5 case
The DA requested and was given yet another delay. All parties will try again come December 5th.
Robert "Comatose Bob" Morgenthau needs to retire or be pushed out by some competent prosecutor.
I have to admit that the fight to clear the Central Park 5 — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise — has become a passionate, time-consuming endeavor for me and many, many others. Thirteen years ago when the boys were arrested for assaults, robberies and the rape of Patricia Meili, I gullibly agreed like others that it was an open and shut case. There was tremendous evidence against them: signed, written statements; videotaped confessions; the constant reminder that their parents were present for much of the interrogations and during the videotaped statements; but most importantly, it appeared to be logical that they did indeed commit the crimes with which they were charged.
Then a funny thing happened along the way. Cracks in the case grew larger and larger. Those of us with good memories of our Black History lessons saw that the fix was on. That we were witness to the beginnings of a new “Scottsboro Boys” case. This time, in the heart of the liberal, bleeding heart Northeast. In fact, once the community started speaking up for the boys, the case was given the nickname of “Scottsboro North.” And it wasn’t just an emotional response, nor one based solely on the race of the kids. We had a second look at the evidence: We learned that several of the boys were taken to the crime scenes hours before their parents arrival; the statements were basically dictated to them and they were coerced from them with verbal and physical threats and possibly actual assaults; and we realized that the presence of their parents meant nothing — they were not savvy enough to know that by falling for promises of leniency for any statement, that they were convicting their sons before even a hint of a trial. We also took note of Yusef Salaam’s refusal to confess to anything. He was steadfast in his denials and his supposed “written confession” was an obvious fabrication by veteran detectives.
Kharey Wise’s “confessions” were painful and heartbreaking. Both because we initially believed his statements (or at least the excerpts played over and over again on the nightly news and printed in the rags fighting to sell ad space daily) and then realized that he was “not all there,” at best, or slightly mentally challenged at worse. Since he was 16 at the time of his questioning, he didn’t need the presence of an adult. The police and prosecutors chose the perfect victim to coerce. That’s probably why they interrogated him last and made him wait for such a long time, about a day and a half. It would be years later before I learned that in his second videotaped statement he claimed that he was verbally and physically assaulted by a detective.
For anyone to believe those statements they would have to suspend logic. None of them matched at all. Not even in small, important details. And Wise’s statements were the most contradictory. He changed crime scenes, active participants and injuries inflicted on Meili. He was easily lead by Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer — again, this was only brought to light in the wake of Matias Reyes’s confession to the rape of Meili — and detectives from the homicide squad. It’s one thing for the boys to get small, insignificant details wrong or to omit them entirely. But for them to diverge so much?! For the statements to defy common sense, it had to be coerced and obvious lies of desparate, scared and probably harmed boys.
The months leading up to the two major trials were filled with large excerpts from the Central Park 5’s statements. The City Sun, a Brooklyn based African American weekly that no longer exists, published shocking details made by the boys. Many of them said they masturbated over the victim while others raped her. They also claimed to have ejaculated on her while the vile deed was committed. Yet not one of them was ever connected to her by the DNA tests. Just her boyfriend and Matias Reyes (identified only after his confession earlier this year). There was no blood found on them, their clothing or in their homes. A few strands of hair was all the physical evidence that supposedly connected them to the notorious crime.
All these years later and shenigans continue to be perpetrated by officials that are sworn to uphold justice. As Big Mama says, “You don’t frame a guilty person.” In their quest to uphold the convictions at all costs, the Manhattan DA’s office, New York Police Department and their partners in crime, the mainstream press (for the most part), shows how desparate they are to hide their lies and just how weak the case is against the boys.
While I can’t do much in the way of righting the wrongs committed against them, I feel it’s my duty to inform and agitate on their behalf because “every little bit” does indeed count. By adding my voice to the growing chorus, we can shout till justice is done.
Go and tell Pharoah!
Several good or provocative articles have recently been written about the Central Park 5 and their quest for justice . So here’s a big ass update from several news articles and columns posted in the past week. I will write about how much of a jackass Andrea Peyser is in a later post.
Newsday columnist Sheryl McCarthy follows up on an earlier story:
Race, Gender Issues Collide in the Jogger Case
[...] It seems ironic that feminists are raising the issue of whether the defendants got justice, since back in 1990 their main concern was the victim. During the trials, when the young men's defenders claimed that they were being framed because of their race, that in an emotionally overheated climate, there'd been a rush to judgment, women's groups replied that rape, not race, was the issue.
Now they admit that race was an issue in this case and that its presence may have helped to deny justice to both the victim and the accused.
"Given all the new information that's come out around this case, we felt it was important for feminists to make a statement," Fran Luck, coordinator of the Street Harassment Project, told me.
"We were very angry at what's starting to look, at the very least, like bungling by the DA's office, both in terms of the real and terrible injustice done to the five young men who were tried and convicted. . . and the fact that investigations that aren't thorough, that may be media driven, may be career driven, and are driven by racial profiling . . . all of this doesn't help protect women against rapists."
This also caught my eye in the column:
[...] The press and the police fueled a vision of dark hoards swooping down from Harlem to rape white women and steal white wallets.
Now that the case against the teenagers is disintegrating, it's clear that the kind of miscarriage of injustice that occured in Depression-era Alabama, when nine black men were wrongly convicted of raping two white prostitutes, could still happen in 1990s New York.
Not that the feminists were totally wrong in 1990. They knew that rape victims were usually blamed for what happened to them, and their need to defend the rights of rape victims was completely understandable. But there's also "this whole terrible history of black men being railroaded on totally racist grounds, with rape being used," Luck said.
Can't remember where I read it, but someone inclined to believe that the teens were railroaded took exception to some of the statments and/or tactics "supporters" of the boys made/engaged in. She (my memory is faulty right now, but I believe it was a woman blogger) thought they needed to be reprimanded by other People of Color. While I understand her sentiments, it's wrongheaded. Should wealthy white people apologize for the hostile environment Donald Trump's race-baiting ads caused at the time? What about Jews? Do they claim responsibility for the racist hostility and hatred engendered in Ed Koch's venomous remarks at the time?
The main point of McCarthy’s column?
Yes, the jogger case was about rape. But it was also about race. And we're seeing firsthand what happens when the two collide, distorting reality in the process.
Also in Newsday, Leonard Levitt is Eyeing the Law's Role in Jogger Case.
Too bad he starts off with incorrect assertions:
Thirteen years after five black teenagers were convicted of raping a white female jogger in Central Park...
Informed followers of the case will note that three of the Black teens (McCray, Richardson and Salaam) were convicted of rape along with Latino Raymond Santana. Wise was convicted on a single sexual abuse charge.
I do appreciate the article's comments from Eric Adams as they are pretty close to my own sentiments:
Eric Adams, a police lieutenant who heads 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, is only one of many voices asking how the five teenagers were convicted, given the lack of physical evidence at the time and the fact that investigators have now determined that another man committed the rape.
"I think those boys committed a crime in Central Park by committing assaults or even robbing somebody," Adams said. "But often, some of us in law enforcement believe, 'So what if they are not the right guys, they are just as guilty.' When it comes to a person of color, often, when they cannot find a person guilty, anyone will do. History will bare this out."
But don't hold your breath waiting for an independent investigation.
While as a public servant Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is probably as good as it gets, he is in his third decade and doesn't easily relinquish power.
I have no admiration for DA Morgenthau given his inaction when justice cries out and because of his long history of ignoring People of Color and their rights. At 83, Comatose Bob has served well past his prime and usefulness.
But he isn't the only one that should face tough questions about their role in the frameup:
Was Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer influenced into acquiescing to the admissions because of the overheated racial rhetoric of the time? Recall that the jogger rape occurred just two years after the Rev. Al Sharpton came forward with the Tawana Brawley hoax that she had been raped by a group of white men. Or that the Amsterdam News, in violation of an unwritten journalistic practice, published the rape victim's name, the city's only media outlet to do so.
"The public is not aware that the confession process is not [a] single event where a person says, 'I did or did not do an act,'" Adams said. "It occurs in phases. The first phase is the questioning phase, then verbal acknowledgment, ending in the tape-recording process. An interrogation can wear down the best. We catch a lot of bad guys, but if used improperly, you can put an innocent person in jail.
"Sometimes they intentionally or accidentally give suspects information of a crime during interrogations to fit the puzzle," he said. "If the detectives did this, the prosecutor is supposed to be there for checks and balances.
"What raised our concern at the time when you looked at the confessions was that there was no physical evidence. None of the boys put themselves doing the crime. They indicated that they didn't understand that what they admitted to was a crime. ... They did not understand 'acting in concert' is a crime. They all pointed to the next guy.
"There were also contradictions such as that one had intercourse, yet there was no physical evidence. Another indicated he removed her bra when it wasn't removed. When you hear all those contradictions, any good investigator will realize something is wrong with this case."
I won't dignify the swipe at Rev. Al with a reply, nor comment on the "violation of an unwritten journalistic practice" supposedly committed by the AmNews. Patricia Meili renders the latter point moot — IMHO — as she is publishing a book about her ordeal and there are rumors that copies of the uncorrected proof will ship to reviewers and media very soon.
The "Bullshit Quote of the Month" goes to:
This investigation will be fair, impartial and complete. We all have a right to expect justice and I intend to see that justice prevails.
Robert "Comatose Bob" Morgenthau, Manhattan District Attorney
What appears to have happened in this case thirteen years ago was anything but justice prevailing in a fair, impartial and complete manner. Not for the Central Park 5, the jogger, or even Matias Reyes and (especially) his subsequent victims.
(You can read all about the rift in the DA's office in the last three paragraphs. Don't want to touch it as I've already been accused of making shit up.)
Finally, several people have posted to this pretty intriguing and engrossing Village Voice article:
Rage Before Race by Rivka Gewirtz Little
Thirteen years after the teens were convicted, DNA evidence and a confession to the crime by Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist behind bars, indicate a strong possibility that the five accused—who walked into prison as boys and emerged years later as men—would have been a worthy cause for any left activist group to champion. In the jogger case, no one even considered their five mothers a cause for feminists, though with little money or proper representation, they saw their sons railroaded, and the media portrayed them as out-of-control ghetto mamas.
Nothing further to add to the article that hasn’t already been commented on (nicely) by others.
[ From Aaron ] :
Trump Draws Criticism for Ad He Ran After Jogger Attack
Carol Taylor, a writer and demonstrator at the recent rallies (and no known relation), was not surprised at Mr. Trump's recent comments. "Of course he won't apologize, because he's a rich white colorist male who is wallowing in the unearned privilege of his white skin color," she said. On Monday, she held a sign that said: "Donald Trump, don't be a chump. For dissing black boys so bad, where's your full-page apology ad?"
A protest is planned near the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Midtown on Sunday. "I'll be there. I think I'll make my sign bigger," Ms. Taylor said.
Mr. Trump shrugged off the planned protest. "I don't mind if they picket. I like pickets."
Asshole.
Andrea Peyser continues to be a stupid, clueless, racist jackass:
Not So Fast On Clearing Jogger 5
A prosecutor who watched five youths confess to the 1989 rape and beating of the Central Park jogger has one thing to say about the mob that wants to clear them:
"Those confessions were good."
This prosecutor doesn’t have the conjones to go on record with that assertion! If my rep was threatened, I would not hide behind a lame ass columnist’s hit piece to defend my work.
A group of loudmouths, most notably Al Sharpton, is going wilding against our justice system on behalf of five young men convicted in the attack.
Lovely tactic of putting Rev. Al in the picture. Clueless white racists do it every time. Him, or Farrakhan, or David Dinkins. I’m not kidding with that last one either. And notice how she included "wilding." What she lacks in factual documentation she makes up in creativity.
It seems this city is sentenced to repeat the year 1989 — when ultraviolent youths ruled the parks after dark and self-promoting politicians ruled the airwaves by day. And truth was an inconvenience.
Roving "wolf packs" continues to amuse the clueless set despite that fact that it’s an urban myth (at least here in New York City). And truth is an inconvenience?! Dumb ass! Try looking in a got-damn mirror!!!
A familiar crew that now includes the National Organization for Women is getting maximum exposure by advancing the claim that the confessions of the Jogger 5 — given in the presence of parents as the victim languished in a coma — were coerced by racist cops.
Nonsense.
Stupid Ass! Does she realize that NOW-NYC was part of the original lynch mob atmosphere that denied justice to the Central Park 5?! She can repeat the line that all five confessed in the presence of their parents all she wants. It’s a lie. The teens were prepped for their "confessions" long before their parents were allowed to sit with them. They were lied to, cajoled and Kharey Wise says in his second taped statement that he was verbally and physically assaulted. Funny how that’s overlooked. Yusef Salaam never confessed. The written statement purported to be his is a joke. It’s not signed and doesn’t make a bit of sense. Det. Sheehan and Lederer and Fairstein came up with that clueless bit after they realized they were caught with their pants down.
Let’s jump ahead towards the end. My lack of coffee will cause me to hurt somebody or something.
Thirteen years ago, the same racist crew wanted to exonerate the Jogger 5 — and bashed the victim — based solely on skin color.
This time around, there is DNA evidence that shows another man, Matias Reyes, raped the jogger. One problem: Reyes' involvement does not prove the others innocent.
"My experience with a gang rape is that some can't get it up," said the prosecutor.
That does not mean they didn't participate.
Again, name names. Peyser doesn’t seem the quiet, cowering type. If she has proof that a racist crew" "bashed the victim," name the damn names. It didn’t happen so she can’t name names. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there was more than one rapist: Matias Reyes. Not a single hair, no DNA, no blood, nothing but those tainted, contradictory "confessions." Even the police never claimed the rape was due to racism as Peyser foolishly alleges. And questioning the manhood of the framed juveniles is, well, juvenile.
The youths' confessions also contained intricate details about several other random assaults carried out in the park the night the jogger was raped. But no one denies the veracity of those confessions.
No one? Yusef Salaam and his family have been denying his involvement from day one. The mugging/bashing victims couldn’t identify any perps when taken to the police precinct. The only connection, again, was the confessions coerced from the teens. Confessions that don’t include Salaam or Steven Lopez who was originally designated the “ringleader” of the rape and never charged for said crime.
The prosecutor theorizes that Reyes dragged off the jogger and raped her after the rest of the pack was through.
Peyser, you’re one clueless hussy! If that were the case, their DNA would be present all over. The fact that semen from Reyes and Meili’s boyfriend was matched proves that the Central Park 5 did not rape her before or after Reyes. Otherwise, some DNA material, at least one hair from one of the teens would have been present. There is no blood evidence to support such an obsurd claim. Only white racist hate would continue to perpetrate that claim.
But that probability is inconvenient to those such as Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields and Councilman Bill Perkins, who are pushing to vacate the guilty verdicts without investigation.
That's mob rule.
Without investigation? The DA has had this case in review since at least January. There have been two delays granted to Morgenthau. Delays that won’t change the outcome of the review: Reyes was the sole rapist and the Central Park 5 were framed, plain and simple. To continue this myth of an attack prior to or subsequent to Reyes would be White Denial/Hate. I can’t mince words in the face of such stupidity.
[ From Cecily (who continues to intrigue and inform, even during her hiatus from the web) ] :
YAAAMS - Young African-Americans Against Media Stereotypes
We have created this Web site for the purpose of raising questions, provoking thoughts, and exposing differences (subtle or blatant) concerning the treatment of African-Americans in the media. It is imperative that changes be made to ensure that African-Americans receive equal exposure and have a say in their future image.
[ From the Village Voice | Features ] :
Foreclosing on Bed-Stuy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Much of what gives Bed-Stuy its charm has made the area a target for predators. The neighborhood's most distinguishing feature is its trove of gorgeous brownstones. For years, despite their beauty, these homes did not attract much attention due to Bed-Stuy's reputation as a historically black neighborhood troubled since the '60s with crime and economic decline. Gentrification and an influx of new renters, followed by buyers, has been occurring at the edges of Bed-Stuy for almost 20 years. But with neighboring Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene drying up, and residents trying to kick-start development in the neighborhood, Bed-Stuy has become a jewel in the eyes of prospective buyers.
I recently moved back to Bedford-Stuyvesant after a more than 15 year absence. There is a big difference in demographics: I've seen more whites and Asians in the neighborhood — usually scurrying from the nearby G-line station — in the past three weeks than in the 20 years that I spent living here. And many of the African Americans leaving the station can be described as Black hipsters. They're showing off iPods, carrying laptops and sporting vintage (read: dirty, torn and outdated) clothing.
Who woulda thunk it?!
Aaron provides the only worthy link for discussion about Harry Belafonte's recent remarks about Colin Powell:
[... Y]ou know, there's yesterday's Boondocks. Which at least has the benefit of being funny and not claiming to be profound.
Okay Playah!
I know, I know! A lot of you have been excited about having these six dudes from Philly insist on coming to break you off... with a new video. So without any further delay, here is OKP's finest players with "BREAK YOU OFF" featuring musiq.
(you'll have to navigate the site for the video, Blogger doesn't like OKP or OKP doesn't like Blogger.)
I posted a link some time ago about Appeals Court Judge Vito Titone's lone dissenting opinion in Yusef Salaam's failed petition to have his conviction thrown out. Thankfully Jimmy Breslin wrote about it recently in his Newsday column so I don't have to track it down:
Herewith is the lone dissenting opinion of Judge Vito Titone of the State Court of Appeals on the appeal of Yusef Salaam, one of five youths convicted of raping and badly beating a young woman who was running through Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. Titone's opinion, written in 1993, suddenly is of overwhelming significance today and therefore I read and report it to you promptly and thus prominently.
He also wrote a scathing piece about Donald Trump’s racist, inflammatory ads at the time of the media hype:
Trump was seen yesterday on television in McDonald's commercials. Here he is, dead on the screen, with hair of swirled cement and strange color, and with a bad chin. That's up to the director. But his record shows he ran full-page newspaper ads that inflamed a city over race when the jogger was attacked. If McDonald's likes its Trump commercials then send them a message. Stay out.
Central Park 5 Update: Added links to two very good Jimmy Breslin columns.
NY Times: Hair Evidence in Jogger Case Is Discredited
Persecutor Elizabeth Lederer went out of her way to link Richardson and Lopez to the jogger; In doing so, she went beyond the DA's hair expert and indeed, knowingly mistated the evidence.
[ From MotherJones.com | Commentary: ]
Beyond Left: The Principles of Democracy by Geov Parrish
Could America's decaying democracy have life yet? The astonishing recent flood of calls, letters, e-mails, and faxes to Capitol Hill opposing the Bush Administration's desire for a blank check for blitzkrieg were important for several reasons that transcended the vote itself. The outpouring itself was important, but so were its speed and lack of organizational sponsors, and the ideological and demographic diversity of the critics.
Protestors are following Jimmy Breslin's advise, somewhat. There's a protest planned at the new (super-sized, boisterious, theatre-themed) 42nd Street McDonald's. They'll also be protests in front of Trump Plaza, but Trump apparentely likes that type of attention.
Reading Keith Boykin is life-affirming. Yes, life-affirming!
More to come after a late breakfast and coffee.
Bad design skills made me post the above and subsequent post (re: Paul Wellstone) to the Central Park 5 blog. Corrected and moving away from my iMac shortly.
The Star-Tribune (MN) has a memorial page for deceased U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone.
I plan to overhaul this site soon. Among the changes to come will be updated links to other bloggers. Ray Garraud's CitiBlog will definitely be one of them.
I love his recent To Tell The Truth post. Maybe I'll add something to it soon. (Not likely — I'm in a lazy mood right now and have so much more work that needs to be completed.)
[ From Ray Garraud's comments posted on my blog before the switch to Movable Type ] :
The New York Daily News practices "collusion" with this bulls—t article. Anonymous sources, medical advice given without the benefit of studying the jogger's medical reports from that time and an obvious plant from (a) pro-conviction supporter(s).
Bob Slade mentioned The Central Park Jogger 5 Information Page on KISS-FM's "Week in Review" program last night. I haven't had adequate time to read extensively, but if Slade, James Mtume, Bob Pickett, and Peter Noel endorsed it, they must be progressive and informative.
I just wish they'd drop the "jogger" part of the name as it's all about getting justice for the 5 young men framed.
12:47 PM - When first posted, the "information page" contained just one page with a link to a downloadable pdf file for a petition. Here's hoping that much more will be added in a timely fashion.
Thanks Jason! I really need stress and hate and stupidity in my life right now.
[ From Jason (because I don't have enough stress and anger in my life) ] :
Ann Coulter proves once again she's a clueless a—hole:
[I]t was only a matter of time before the criminal defense lobby would turn to the 1989 wilding attack in Central Park. The current baby seals of the "exoneration" racket are the feral beasts who raped, brutalized and nearly murdered a female jogger.
Strictly adhering to formula, the defense bar has produced a shocking confession from a criminal who -- coincidentally -- can no longer be prosecuted for the attack. Matias Reyes now claims he alone raped the jogger.
Amazingly, this barbaric crime is a good target for a baseless "exoneration." The savages have served their time, the victim remembers nothing, and no one cares as much as the anti-death penalty fanatics. In fact, the Manhattan district attorney himself adamantly opposes the death penalty. With little cost, he can look bold and honest by overturning the jury verdicts.
It's not worth my time (not to mention my sanity) to deal with her obvious lies and distortions of facts. I'll trounce each of her points Tuesday night soon eventually.
Tyler reminds me that I still haven't caught a viewing of Michael Moore's latest movie, Bowling for Columbine:
Moore touches dozens of topics in his two-hour film, but the one theme that runs throughout the movie is Americans' fear of themselves. Fear of strangers, fear of neighbors, fear of family members, fear of other races....fear of everything and everyone. — from the Oct. 29th entry
Unlike Tyler, I have no sympathy for Charlton Heston and his right-wing rhetoric/racism (same difference).
[ From Jeff Cooper, an intriguing fella ] :
Strange Bedfellows
As further evidence that even bitter rivals can put aside hostility when there's money to be made, Dell Computer is now selling an Apple product in its online store. Or as the Mercury News puts it, "Dude, you're getting an iPod!"