A beforehand forgotten sixth co-defendant within the notorious Central Park 5 rape case wept brazenly in a Manhattan courtroom Monday as his greater than three decade-old conviction was overturned.
Steven Lopez, 48, who as a teen pleaded responsible to a lesser cost of robbing a male jogger, was cleared after Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg and his attorneys filed a movement to vacate the conviction.
“Mr. Lopez was charged and pleaded responsible within the face of false statements, unreliable forensic evaluation and immense exterior strain,” Bragg instructed the courtroom.
Lopez’s exoneration got here a full twenty years after the convictions of his co-defendants within the 1989 case have been overturned.
The DA stated a re-investigation of the case discovered Lopez, then 15, had “involuntarily” pleaded responsible in a take care of prosecutors. The probe, led by Assistant District Lawyer Terri Rosenblatt within the Publish-Conviction Justice Unit, was launched in March 2021 after Lopez approached prosecutors a month prior, asking for a evaluate of his conviction.
“Distinctive circumstances, mixed with Mr. Lopez’s youth, made his plea involuntary – and subsequently unconstitutional,” Bragg stated.
The DA’s workplace discovered that some proof used on the time, corresponding to “hair pattern comparisons,” was unreliable.
“Due to this fact, there stays no bodily proof connecting Mr. Lopez to the charged conduct,” Bragg stated.
Statements made by different younger males on the time linking Lopez to the crime have been later recanted, the DA famous.
Manhattan Supreme Courtroom Justice Ellen Biben agreed, granting the movement, vacating the plea and dismissing Lopez’ indictment.
“Mr. Lopez, we want you peace and therapeutic,” Biben stated.
“Thanks,” Lopez replied, earlier than shaking Bragg’s hand — visibly emotional with tears in his eyes — and bolting out of the courtroom.
Lopez was arrested in 1989 together with 5 different black and Latino teenagers for the horrific rape and beating of then-28-year-old white jogger Trisha Meili, against the law that shocked town at a time of rising violent crime.
He pleaded responsible to theft, avoiding the extra critical rape costs, and served 4 years in jail earlier than being launched within the early Nineteen Nineties.
Lopez’s co-defendants — who turned often called the Central Park 5 — have been finally convicted at trial. They served six to 13 years in jail earlier than their exoneration in 2002.
These convictions have been tossed after a evaluate of the case uncovered important proof had not been supplied to the jury throughout trial, together with DNA proof that linked serial rapist Matias Reyes to the crime.
Reyes additionally confessed to the assault and stated he dedicated it alone, however the assertion got here after the statute of limitations expired.
“They are saying justice delayed is justice denied,” Lopez’ legal professional, Eric Renfro, stated to him in courtroom. “And I'm sorry you needed to wait 30 years, and I'm sorry you needed to wait 20 years for the exoneration.”
The Central Park 5 sued town in 2003 for $250 million over their wrongful conviction and imprisonment.
The lawsuit dragged on for over a decade, as then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposed a take care of the lads. That place was later reversed by Mayor Invoice de Blasio, and Metropolis Corridor paid $41 million to settle the go well with in 2014.
The case sparked the critically acclaimed Ken Burns documentary, “The Central Park 5” in 2012 and the 2019 Netflix dramatization “When They See Us.”
Lopez has not acquired any settlements for his wrongful prosecution.
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