BrownWatch

View Original

Black & Guilty Until Proven Innocent. Central Park Five File $200 Million Lawsuit in their False Convictions for Rape of White Woman Jogger

From [HERE] Four of the five men wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger in Central Park in 1989 appealed Sunday for a settlement in their 10-year-old suit against the city. The four — Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, Kharey Wise and Kevin Richardson — appeared at a  screening attended by hundreds of people at Riverside Church of “The Central Park Five,” the movie that tells their story.

Salaam’s children moved through the audience, collecting signatures on a letter to Mayor Bloomberg asking for his support for the men, who all served years in prison before a serial rapist confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence showed he was the attacker. Santana, 38,  said the civil case, next in court on Feb. 19, has been "moving at a snail’s pace."

Roger Wareham, an attorney for three of the five, said the slow progress was "very frustrating, especially since the city has not even made an offer.”

Each of the five is seeking $50 million, but Wareham insists no amount of money can replace the years of their lives spent in prison. "There's no financial amount that can compensate spending their teenage lives in jail," he said.

“I just want it to be over," Salaam, 38, told the Daily News, saying he hopes for an end to the  case for the sake of the city and the five men.

"One of the things it does is it gives the city an opportunity to heal," he said. "And it gives us an opportunity to move on with our lives."

Sarah Burns, who made the movie along with her father, Ken Burns, said she is pleased the film Is having an impact.

"We're reaching people," she told The News. "It's a story that moves people...I'm glad that people are talking about it and hopefully we can prevent these things from happening again."

Wise, 40, said he was just glad their side of the story has finally been told. “The truth is out,” he said.