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The Central Park jogger case was a criminal case concerning the assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a woman who was running in Central Park in Manhattan, New York, on April 19, 1989. Crime in New York City was peaking in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged. On the night Meili was attacked, dozens of teenagers had entered the park, and there were reports of muggings and physical assaults.
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A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation.
A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogation techniques. When some degree of coercion is involved, studies have found that subjects with highly sophisticated intelligence or manipulated by their so-called "friends" are more likely to make such confessions. Young people are particularly vulnerable to confessing, especially when stressed, tired, or traumatized, and have a significantly higher rate of false confessions than adults. Hundreds of innocent people have been convicted, imprisoned, and sometimes sentenced to death after confessing to crimes they did not commit—but years later, have been exonerated. It was not until several shocking false confession cases were publicized in the late 1980s, combined with the introduction of DNA evidence, that the extent of wrongful convictions began to emerge—and how often false confessions played a role in these.
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This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.
This is a list of notable overturned convictions in Canada.
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Ricky Jackson, Ronnie Bridgeman and Wiley Bridgeman are African Americans who were wrongfully convicted of murder as young men in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975 and sentenced to death. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1977. They were imprisoned for decades before each of the three was exonerated in late 2014. Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman were released that year.
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Louis N. Scarcella is a retired detective from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) who earned frequent commendations during the "crack epidemic" of the 1980s and 1990s, before many convictions resulting from his investigations were overturned during his retirement. As a member of the Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, he and his longtime partner Stephen Chmil built a reputation for obtaining convictions in difficult cases. Since 2013, Scarcella has received extensive and sustained publicity for multiple allegations of investigative misconduct that resulted in false testimony against crime suspects, leading to innocent parties serving long prison terms and guilty individuals going free.
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On July 18, 2013, Tyrone West, a 44-year-old African American male, was pursued by two officers of the Baltimore Police Department after he fled a traffic stop during which cocaine was allegedly found. The cocaine later went missing in police possession after a subpoena was issued. West was on parole at the time of this incident with an extensive criminal record including assault, resisting arrest, and attempted first-degree murder. West ultimately died during the scuffle with police and various medical experts have given conflicting assessments of contributing factors including cardiac arrhythmia, dehydration, positional asphyxia, and extreme environmental temperatures.
Korey Wise is an American activist who travels the United States advocating for criminal justice reform. Wise shares his stories of being wrongfully convicted in the Central Park jogger case for the attack on Trisha Meili, a 28-year-old white woman who was jogging in Central Park, as well as attacks on eight other people on the night of April 19, 1989. Wise spent approximately 14 years incarcerated, maintaining his innocence from 1989 until he was exonerated in 2002.
Malcolm X, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, was shot multiple times and died from his wounds in Manhattan, New York City on February 21, 1965, at age 39. While preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, Malcolm X was shot multiple times and killed. Three members of the Nation of Islam—Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Khalil Islam, and Thomas Hagan—were charged, tried, and convicted of the murder and given indeterminate life sentences, but in November 2021, Aziz and Islam were exonerated.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gonnerman, Jennifer (October 25, 2021). "When a Witness Recants". The New Yorker . Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ↑ Fletcher, Michael; Birch, Doug (November 19, 1983). "Police hunting suspect in murder at school". The Evening Sun . pp. 1, 2. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ↑ Fletcher, Michael (November 24, 1983). "3 youths charged in slaying over jacket". The Evening Sun . p. 1. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ↑ McCord, Joel (November 25, 1983). "3 teenagers charged in Harlem Park case". The Baltimore Sun . pp. 1, 16. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ↑ Banisky, Sandy (May 29, 1984). "Jury find 3 guilty in school slaying after deliberating less than 3 hours". The Baltimore Sun . pp. 1, 4. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- 1 2 "3 Maryland men exonerated after 36 years in prison". The Associated Press . November 25, 2019. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023.
- ↑ Broadwater, Luke (March 4, 2020). "Maryland spending panel votes to pay $8.7 million to three men recently exonerated after each spent 36 years in prison". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved October 31, 2023.
- ↑ "'Harlem Park 3' file federal lawsuit against Baltimore police". WBAL-TV . August 13, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ↑ "Three men exonerated in 1983 murder file federal lawsuit". The Associated Press . August 13, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ↑ Willis, Adam (October 18, 2023). "Baltimore board approves $48 million settlement for 'Harlem Park Three' wrongful conviction". The Baltimore Banner . Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ↑ Valera, Dennis; Mattu, Rohan; Thompson, Adam (October 18, 2023). "Baltimore spending board approves $48 million settlement for wrongful conviction of 'Harlem Park Three'". WJZ-TV . Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.