US: In a major turnaround, the New York district attorney yesterday asked a judge yesterday to throw out the convictions of five young men in one of America's most notorious crimes, the 1989 rape of a Central Park jogger.
The case was reopened 11 months ago after a convicted rapist, never before suspected, confessed to carrying out the attack on his own. District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's recommendation was made after DNA tests backed the rapist's claim, leaving embarrassing questions about how the police extracted confessions from the five black and Hispanic youths.
Aged 14 to 16 at the time, they have already completed jail terms ranging from six to 11½ years for the crime.
The white investment banker was left for dead and she has no memory of the vicious attack.
State Supreme Court Justice, Charles Tejada will make a final ruling by February 6th. Exoneration could mean civil suits against New York.
The case came to symbolise rising crime in the city and its random nature exacerbated racial tensions.
The rapist, Matias Reyes (31), is currently serving a life sentence for other serious crimes. He said he raped the jogger, crushed her skull with a rock and left her for dead.
Reyes' DNA matched semen from the body of the jogger, who has made a full recovery.