Strange New Twist in Central Park Jogger Case

The “Central Park Jogger” situation, which associated a brutal rape in 1989, is a single of the most famous wrongful-conviction tales in record.

So when information broke not long ago that a new defamation lawsuit has been filed in link with a new film about the situation, you could assume that it was introduced by a single of the defendants or a prosecutor or a cop. Instead, it was introduced by a enterprise that was pointed out in the film.

Initial, a recap:

As you could recall, the situation associated the practically deadly assault and rape of a white, 28-yr-old woman jogger in New York City’s Central Park, supposedly by a team of “wilding” black youths in 1989. In the long run, 5 black and Hispanic young adults who confessed to the act ended up tried out, observed responsible, and sentenced to jail phrases ranging from 6 to fifteen several years even while there was very little physical evidence tying them to the attack.

In 2002, nevertheless, a convict named Matias Reyes admitted to the attack whilst serving a lifestyle sentence for murder and rape when DNA evidence linked him to the criminal offense, and the wrongfully convicted men ended up set absolutely free.

“The Central Park 5,” as they arrived to be recognized, then sued the metropolis, and in 2014 Mayor Invoice de Blasio announced a settlement of about $40 million.

Not remarkably, the situation drew the focus of writers and filmmakers. In 1991, Joan Didion wrote a prolonged essay in the New York Overview of Textbooks expressing skepticism of the police’s variation of events. And in 2012, well-recognized documentarian Ken Burns examined the situation and its aftermath for PBS.

Netflix’s Interrogation Portrayal

Which delivers us to 2019 and a Netflix dramatic series about the situation, “When They See Us.” The 4-part miniseries created and directed by Ava DuVernay, turned offered to subscribers on May well 31 and has garnered rave critiques, which include a stunning ninety six % rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

A enterprise referred to as John E. Reid and Associates, nevertheless, is not content about the series. That is mainly because John E. Reid and Associates provides education packages to regulation-enforcement, military, and intelligence companies, and it contends that a single of the interrogation methods in its portfolio of companies, the “Reid Procedure,” was “falsely disparaged” in the series’ portrayal of it.

In the series, the young adults are depicted as becoming less than intense pressure from police interrogators, and in the remaining episode the procedure used by them is referred to as the Reid method. “You squeezed statements out of them soon after forty two several hours of questioning and coercing,” states an assistant DA. “Without food items, lavatory breaks. Withholding parental supervision. The Reid method has been universally rejected. That is fact to you?”

In its grievance, Reid and Associates describes the Reid Procedure and states that it prohibits “putting or assaulting a matter, making any promises of leniency, denying a matter any rights, conducting excessively extended interrogations, or denying a matter any physical desires.” Reid and Associates say it is very powerful and that fake confessions only result when it is used incorrectly.

The grievance notes that “When They See Us” has been Netflix’s most well known series due to the fact its release, viewed by hundreds of thousands of men and women, which include its have clients and opportunity clients. Reid’s standing and business have been harmed as a result, the grievance promises.

The lawsuit, which was filed Oct. fourteen in the U.S. District Courtroom for the Northern District of Illinois, seeks financial damages as well as injunction that would drive Netflix to halt streaming the series or “delete the defamatory references.”

Associated Resources:

• What to Do Soon after a Wrongful Arrest (FindLaw’s Blotter)
• Was Your Law enforcement Confession Coerced? (FindLaw’s Blotter)
• Suing Law enforcement and Prosecutors for Wrongful Arrest, Prosecution, Imprisonment (FindLaw’s Injured)
• Netflix’s ‘When They See Us’ Looks at Wrongful Convictions of Central Park five (FindLaw’s Celebrity Justice)