JUDGE VACATES JOGGER RAPE CONVICTIONS

Yahoo News ^ | 12/19/02 | AP

[marktuoni]

State Justice Charles Tejada, moving more quickly than defense lawyers and prosecutors had expected, dismissed all indictments against the five less than a week before Christmas. His ruling wasn't expected until Jan. 6.

The decision came two weeks after Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau recommending dropping all the convictions in the case.

The decision to dismiss the indictments means prosecutors would have to start from scratch with a grand jury to retry the five.

Tejeda's decision came after lawyers from the police detectives' union unsuccessfully tried to block his ruling. The Detectives' Endowment Association wanted an evidentiary hearing first, said attorney Philip Karsyk.

The primary evidence in the case had been confessions made to detectives.

Supporters of the accused have said those statements were coerced. All five were between the ages of 14 and 16 when they were arrested in connection with the April 19, 1989, attack.

No forensic evidence linked any of them to the crime scene. In addition, there was a DNA match with a serial rapist who came forward earlier this year to confess to the jogger attack.

[marktuoni]

Rape not REAPE, sorry!

[KantianBurke]

Arm yourself. Heavily. These thugs and presumbly others will be on the loose soon. Justice in this nation is pretty much gone and therefore you would be advised not to depend on it with your life.

[MeekOneGOP]

Judge vacates convictions in Central Park rape case

12/19/2002

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Thirteen years after the brutal rape and beating of a Central Park jogger, a judge on Thursday dismissed the convictions of all five men who served prison time for the attack.

State Justice Charles Tejada, moving more quickly than defense lawyers and prosecutors had expected, dismissed all indictments against the five less than a week before Christmas. His ruling wasn't expected until Jan. 6.

The decision came two weeks after Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau recommending dropping all the convictions in the case.

The decision to dismiss the indictments means prosecutors would have to start from scratch with a grand jury to retry the five.

Judge Tejeda's decision came after lawyers from the police detectives' union unsuccessfully tried to block his ruling. The Detectives' Endowment Association wanted an evidentiary hearing first, said attorney Philip Karsyk.

The primary evidence in the case had been confessions made to detectives.

Supporters of the accused have said those statements were coerced. All five were between the ages of 14 and 16 when they were arrested in connection with the April 19, 1989, attack.

No forensic evidence linked any of them to the crime scene. In addition, there was a DNA match with a serial rapist who came forward earlier this year to confess to the jogger attack.

The five, now ages 28 to 30, completed prison sentences ranging from 5 1/2 years to 13 years on their convictions. Their lawyers have said they are considering civil lawsuits on their behalf.

At the time of the attack, authorities said a roaming youth gang was in the park for a night of "wilding" -- randomly attacking anyone who came into their path.

The jogger, a 28-year-old investment banker, was found near death in a puddle of mud and blood in the north end of the park. She was in coma for 12 days but eventually recovered. She now lives in a Connecticut suburb and works for a nonprofit organization and is expected to have a book out in April.

Besides rape and assault convictions in connection with the jogger, the boys also were convicted on charges including assault, robbery, sex abuse and rioting stemming from allegations they attacked and harassed other people in the park that night.

Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson and Kharey Wise confessed on videotape. A detective testified at trial that the fifth, Yusef Salaam, made incriminating admissions to him but never on videotape.

Prosecutors earlier this month asked the court to void the convictions on the basis of "new evidence" which would have resulted in more favorable verdicts to the five if it had been available at their trials.

Mr. Morgenthau said the new evidence included the admission of an imprisoned murderer and rapist, Matias Reyes, 31, and a semen sample that proved through DNA that he had assaulted the jogger.

The ruling could clear the way for the release of Mr. Santana, who is currently imprisoned on an unrelated drug charge. Based on his conviction in the jogger case, he was sentenced as a prior felon, said his attorney, Roger Wareham.

Mr. Santana, serving a 3 1/2-to-7-year sentence, would be eligible for parole next July. Mr. Wareham was calling for his immediate release.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Santana's sentencing judge said Mr. Santana's case was not yet on their calendar.

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/121902dnnatjogger.66f4f76.html

[Rummyfan]

Well, that's just great! Anyone have any background on Morgenthau? A prosecutor muts have very strong eveidence to move like this. Is it simply the testimony of a convicted serial rapist or is there more to this story?

If these guys are so innocent, why did they confess? If there was police abuse I think that would have come out a long time ago.

[2banana]

It is open season on whitey

[FreeTally]

If these guys are so innocent, why did they confess? If there was police abuse I think that would have come out a long time ago.

From what I remember and know(and I could be wrong), the five admitted to beating her. That was all the evidence they had. The woman has no memory of the attack. Since, DNA matched another man, a serial rapist. Without physical evidence, and now DNA evidence from another, there may be no way to let the convictions stand. Also, the five never mentioned the man who has now been linked via DNA. I always found that a little odd. Why would ALL five cover for the man who obviously was the one who raped her(who knows who helped beat her).

[First Amendment]

This is horrible. Ann Coulter wrote an article about this recently. If I was smart 'd put a link to it - try later...?
Reminds me of a joke - a psychiatrist walking down the street happens upon a man lying on the ground who has just been severely beaten, robbed etc. The shrink turns and looks at the figure of the perp running away, and says: "Whoever did this to you needs help!"

I wish - I just wish - that I could be in charge of the "justice system" for a little while. Conscienceless vermin like those 5 would already have become room temperature.

[neutrino]

Words fail me. Well, not really...but if I said what I'd like to say, I'd just get banned.

(Sigh)

[First Amendment]

I read (maybe that Ann Coulter aricle) that the vermin who "confessed" had ulterior motives... something to do with gaining protection from some other a**h**e he was sharing a cell with... Sounded like a bogus confession.
If anyone else can link to her article, that would be enlightening.

[kcvl]

Biography of Robert M. Morgenthau

Robert Morris Morgenthau was born on July 31, 1919 in New York City. After graduating from Amherst College in 1941, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving for four and a half years, during World War II. He served aboard the U.S.S. Winslow, the U.S.S. Lansdale, and the U.S.S. Harry F. Bauer, attained the final rank of Lieutenant Commander, and earned a Bronze Star and a Gold Star.

After the war, Morgenthau enrolled at Yale Law School. Upon graduation in 1948 he joined the law firm of Patterson, Belknap & Webb, a New York City law firm, becoming a partner in 1954. In 1961, after twelve years of practicing corporate law, Morgenthau accepted an appointment from President John F. Kennedy as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

As U.S. Attorney for eight and one-half years, Morgenthau developed a reputation as an effective opponent of tax-fraud, organized crime, corruption, and white-collar crime. Among other achievements, he established a special unit to investigate securities fraud and prosecuted highly publicized bribery cases against city officials and IRS attorneys and accountants.

In January of 1970, following the election of President Richard M. Nixon, Morgenthau resigned from his post as United States Attorney. He returned to private life until 1974, when he made the first of eight successful bids for election as District Attorney of New York County.

Robert Morgenthau has received numerous awards and honors, including the Citation of Merit (Yale Law School), the Emory Buckner Award (Federal Bar Council), the Fordham-Stein Prize, the Thomas Jefferson Award in Law (University of Virginia), the Brandeis Medal (University of Louisville Law School), and the Distinguished Public Service Award (New York County Lawyer’s Association).

He is also an active member of the New York community. His principal civic activities are the Police Athletic League (PAL), which he has served since 1962, first as President and then Chairman, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage -- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, of which he is Chairman.

[BlessedBeGod]

Maybe one of these?

Media support citizenship awards for Central Park rapists (ANN COULTER)

New York Times goes wilding on Central Park jogger (ANN COULTER)

[marktuoni]

You mean here?

[kcvl]

The Rape Of Lady Justice:
Patrician DA and the Central Park Jogger Case

Toogood Reports ^ | 16 September 2002 | Nicholas Stix


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/808118/posts

[Exigence]

Rape not REAPE, sorry!

Actually, you weren't that far off... because we're reaping what we sowed by seating all of these liberal jurists on the bench.

[Republic of Texas]

Wow.

[Smogger]

Sounded like a bogus confession.

He must have magic morphing DNA then huh?

[facedown]

Here you go. Ann Coulter's column on the Central Park rapists

[sauropod]

Name rings a bell with me also.

[Centurion2000]

and the U.S.S. Harry F. Bauer, attained the final rank of Lieutenant Commander, and earned a Bronze Star and a Gold Star.

WTF is a Gold Star ? Never heard of that as a military decoration.