Nearly 30 years after Trisha Meili was raped and beaten beyond recognition in New York's Central Park, the woman known as the "Central Park Jogger" has spoken out. After the city announced its decision to release crucial documents surrounding the case, she asserts that despite the exoneration of the group of men dubbed the "Central Park Five," the police and DA behind their imprisonment did nothing wrong.
According to the New York Daily News, Meili thinks the documents should incite further investigation into the case.
“For my own peace of mind I wanted to find the truth of what happened and who was involved, and so that’s why I’m eager to see the release of these documents,” Meili told the Daily News. “It’s information and the details I’ve never had access to.”
The release of the documents comes after a $41 million settlement with the five men who were teenagers when they were wrongfully convicted. Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salam and Kharey Wise were released in 2002 when jailed sexual predator and killer Matias Reyes confessed to the attack saying he worked alone. With DNA evidence matching that of Reyes, the teenagers were let go.
City officials have now released 200,000 pages of documents, 95 depositions and other records.
The wrongful conviction of the teens sparked allegations against the New York Police Department as well as the Manhattan district attorney for railroading the teens. Despite Meili being eager to learn the truths of that night, she doesn't believe the police or DA did anything wrong.
“I’ve wanted to know what happened and who was involved since Reyes came forward," she said. “And ideally I want to be sure because the last thing I want is for innocent people to have been convicted.”
“When that lawsuit was settled, it gave some the impression that the detectives and the prosecutors had acted improperly," Meili continued. "I’d like to see it be acknowledged that there wasn’t a violation of [the men's] civil rights."
Many people would beg to differ and say that's what happened. Five black and Latino teens were accused of assaulting a white woman and forced to serve the majority if not all of their five-to-10 year sentences only to be found not guilty in a retrial.
However, Meili defends her stance by saying she doesn't think Reyes' claim to have acted alone holds the weight that it has been given, describing Reyes as a “pathological liar” and “sociopath.” The Daily News also reports that she sees the deal as a way for Mayor de Blasio to score political favor with his liberal base.
“I was shocked and somewhat disgusted,” she said. “And really so disappointed that the case against the city claiming the detectives and prosecutor had acted improperly … that it was settled for what seems to me like a campaign promise from then-candidate Bill de Blasio.”
With America having a history of wrongly convicting black men for crimes related to white women, it will be hard for many to ever view that as a backpedaling of justice.