The Central Park Five (2012)

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The Central Park Five was released on April 25, 2014, in the USA. The American documentary film was produced by Florentine Films. The movie storyline was written and directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon. The movie was based on the true story of the falsely accused of five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem, New York in 1989[1]

Plot

Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson in the Trial[2]

On April 19, 1989, there is a rape and violence case of Trisha Meili, a Central Park jogger. The event goes uproar and becomes a national sensation as Ed Koch, New York Mayor, states "I think that everybody here — may be across the nation — will look at this case to see how the justice system works. This is, I think, putting the criminal justice system on trial”[3]. Five black and Latino teenagers ages 14 to 16 are accused and admitted to the rape and beating case. These teenagers are Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson. They are imprisoned for 6 to 13 years. Throughout the trial and testimony videotapes, family members of teenagers and legal representatives came to the trials although the statements within the court were inconsistent. The teens were called "wolf pack" by the media, officials, and neighborhoods. After twelve years later, Martias Reyes meets Wise and tells him that he was the true rapers at the time. Later, his DNA was found to be linked with the DNA that was found on the scene, and eventually, the teenagers have falsely accused [4].

Controversy

The film shows how young African Americans are endangered only for born as an African American. The teenagers go through brutal interrogations which lead to a lie confession which are explained and seen on video. Moreover, nobody from the district attorney or police that want to defend the teenagers. It is also seen that the teenagers and their families are seen as the antagonist and treated very badly by the public. The irony is that the confession from young African Americans is more trusted than the DNA evidence. As Daul Kassin, a social psychologist says "The goal is to break the suspect down to helplessness and despair, Once the confession is taken, it trumps everything else, it trumps DNA evidence, its effects cannot be reversed". By that time the true perpetrator confesses for his crime, the teenagers have spent their young lives in prison as Wise says "No money could bring that time back. No money could bring the life that was missing or the time that was taken away[5].

References