Thread by @davidhth

Linda Fairstein is trapped in a dilemma. If the men known as #CentralPark5 are innocent, then the police may have coerced them to “confess.” She refuses to accept the latter, so she’s stuck insisting that these men are guilty of something. 1/
wsj.com/articles/netfl…

In her WSJ op-ed, she finally admits, “Mr. Reyes’s confession, DNA match and claim that he acted alone required that the rape charges against the five be vacated. I agreed with that decision and still do.” 2/

But there were other assaults that night and Fairstein still insists "there was certainly more than enough evidence to support those convictions of first-degree assault, robbery, riot and other charges." 3/

In the past, Fairstein said “I don't think there is a question in the minds of anyone present during the interrogation process that these five men were participants, not only in the other attacks that night but in the attack on the jogger.” 4/
newyorker.com/magazine/2002/…

Fairstein theorized that Reyes was part of the “pack” and was with those who attacked the Central Park jogger. “He stayed longer when the others moved on. He completed the assault," she told @NewYorker. 5/

Reyes’ involvement is undeniable since his DNA was found in semen recovered from the victim and from one of her socks. 6/

There is no evidence linking the #CentralPark5 to Reyes. This is made clear in a 58-page motion to vacate convictions filed in 2002 by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Fairstein’s former employer. 7/
big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/wise.pdf

In the filing, Assistant District Attorney Nancy Ryan writes: “Investigators have been unable to find any evidence that, as of 1989, Reyes knew or associated with the defendants or any of the individuals known to have been in the park with them on the night of April 19.” 8/

“In their statements, several of the defendants themselves named or otherwise identified the individuals they claimed raped the Central Park jogger; the evidence indicates that none of those individuals is Matias Reyes.” 9/

The 58-page filing methodically dismantles the case against the #CentralPark5. It notes that virtually the only evidence against them were the police interviews in which “none of them admitted actually raping the Central Park jogger.” 10/

Each said they played a minor role. “It arguably makes the claim that the defendants made false admissions more plausible, by adding weight to their contention that... each spoke about the crime with a view toward becoming a witness rather than a defendant.” 11/

“Ultimately, there proved to be no physical or forensic evidence recovered at the scene or from the person or effects of the victim which connected the defendants to the attack on the jogger, or could establish how many perpetrators participated,” the filing says. 12/

The filing says “The accounts given by the five defendants differed from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime… 13/

… who initiated the attack, who knocked the victim down, who undressed her, who struck her, who held her, who raped her, what weapons were used in the course of the assault, and when in the sequence of events the attack took place.” 14/

“Some of what the defendants said is simply wrong. Kharey Wise, for instance, declared that the jogger's clothes had been cut off, and that her legs had been cut with a knife. Her clothes were not cut off, and there were no knife wounds on the jogger.” 15/

“None of the defendants… related where the jogger was coming from, what direction she was running in, or how they happened to catch sight of her. None offered specific or accurate descriptions of the area where she was attacked, the terrain, or the crime scene.” 16/

In 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to acting alone in the Central Park rape and provided accurate details of the assault and the crime scene. His affidavit and statements were consistent to what he told ABC News in this interview: 17/
abcnews.go.com/2020/video/con…

The district attorney concluded that the “information Reyes has provided about himself and his history has consistently proven to be reliable and accurate, both about matters related to the case and matters with no direct connection to it.” 18/

Fairstein argues in her WSJ op-ed that Reyes’ confession does not exonerate the #CentralPark5 from other crimes that night, including assaults on two other joggers for which they were convicted. 19/

But the district attorney dismisses that theory as well. “The People's proof was limited by one fundamental fact: none of the victims could identify any of the defendants.” 20/

“The trial evidence as to the other charges, like the evidence as to the attack on the female jogger, consisted almost entirely of the defendants' statements.” Implied is that if the confessions about the rape are untrue, the statements about other crimes are also tainted. 21/

“We conclude that there is a probability that the new evidence, had it been available to the juries, would have resulted in verdicts more favorable to the defendants, not only on the charges arising from the attack on the female jogger, but on the other charges as well.” 22/