https://www.city-journal.org/linda-fairstein-mwa-award-rescinded
What is “extremely troubling” is that Fairstein is exactly right: the five youths confessed to attacking the jogger and many others in the park that night, including two men who were beaten into unconsciousness. Jurors were told that the DNA evidence did not match any of the defendants, but they still voted to convict them, even while knowing that a Mr. X remained at large. In 2002, that individual, Mathias Reyes, admitted to raping the woman, but the statute of limitations for prosecuting him had expired.
The now widely held fallacy is that because Reyes confessed to the crime, the five youths must be innocent, and that the presence of his DNA means that they could not have been involved in the attack, which left Meili in a coma for two weeks. Notwithstanding the de Blasio administration’s payment of nearly $41 million to settle their suits for wrongful conviction, the five were not exonerated. Their convictions were vacated, meaning that they were entitled to a new trial. Having all been released from prison, the men have nothing to gain from a new trial; indeed, they have much to lose.
Despite all the evidence pointing to the involvement of the five accused youths; despite the extreme viciousness of the crime; despite the fact that police and prosecutors turned square corners, many are willing to embrace the narrative of police abuse, false confessions exacted under duress, and wrongful conviction in this case. It’s all part of a broader narrative: that of a racist criminal-justice system, eager to destroy the lives of innocent young black men.
Lost in all this is Trisha Meili. One wonders why she is often described not by name, but instead as a “white woman,” as if this identity somehow changes the facts of the case and mitigates what was done to her. Meantime, her attackers are increasingly viewed as the victims of a crime they committed.
Jeffrey A. Kroessler is a librarian at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
It's all in the trial transcripts, lost in the disinformation is why prosecute these men since they served their time? they were not exonerate, the sentences were vacated.
What is “extremely troubling” is that Fairstein is exactly right: the five youths confessed to attacking the jogger and many others in the park that night, including two men who were beaten into unconsciousness. Jurors were told that the DNA evidence did not match any of the defendants, but they still voted to convict them, even while knowing that a Mr. X remained at large. In 2002, that individual, Mathias Reyes, admitted to raping the woman, but the statute of limitations for prosecuting him had expired.
The now widely held fallacy is that because Reyes confessed to the crime, the five youths must be innocent, and that the presence of his DNA means that they could not have been involved in the attack, which left Meili in a coma for two weeks. Notwithstanding the de Blasio administration’s payment of nearly $41 million to settle their suits for wrongful conviction, the five were not exonerated. Their convictions were vacated, meaning that they were entitled to a new trial. Having all been released from prison, the men have nothing to gain from a new trial; indeed, they have much to lose.
Despite all the evidence pointing to the involvement of the five accused youths; despite the extreme viciousness of the crime; despite the fact that police and prosecutors turned square corners, many are willing to embrace the narrative of police abuse, false confessions exacted under duress, and wrongful conviction in this case. It’s all part of a broader narrative: that of a racist criminal-justice system, eager to destroy the lives of innocent young black men.
Lost in all this is Trisha Meili. One wonders why she is often described not by name, but instead as a “white woman,” as if this identity somehow changes the facts of the case and mitigates what was done to her. Meantime, her attackers are increasingly viewed as the victims of a crime they committed.
Jeffrey A. Kroessler is a librarian at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
It's all in the trial transcripts, lost in the disinformation is why prosecute these men since they served their time? they were not exonerate, the sentences were vacated.
