‘Jogger’ jolt for reform
Men cleared in Central Pk. case push Dems on policing plan
ALBANY — Four of the five men who wrongly spent years in prison for the notorious 1989 rape of a Central Park jogger are urging Assembly Democrats to drop their opposition to Gov. Cuomo’s proposals to cut down on wrongful convictions.
Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam wrote to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) in support of the governor’s proposals to require the videotaping of interrogations involving serious felonies and to enact changes to address mistaken eyewitness identifications.
The four acknowledge Assembly Democrats have long championed tougher legislation to address false convictions, but they say having Cuomo onboard for the first time presents an opportunity to get something done in the state budget due by April 1. The Senate GOP is also backing the Cuomo plan.
While conceding the governor’s plan “will not suddenly create a flawless justice system,” the four argued that “we know too well that waiting for a perfect bill will produce more and more wrongful convictions.
“When we have the power to prevent it, allowing one more innocent New Yorker to spend a life behind bars would truly be a crime,” they wrote.
The four, who have been working on the issue with the Innocence Project, have said they were coerced by police into a confession despite a lack of DNA evidence or eyewitness accounts tying them to the crime.
The men ultimately were exonerated and released in 2002 after a convicted murderer and rapist confessed to the crime and a DNA match was made.
“Had the language in the governor’s budget proposal been law at the time of the investigation into the Central Park jogger case, we likely would not have been convicted and the real perpetrator might have been revealed sooner and prevented from committing additional crimes,” they wrote.
Assembly Democrats say their plan for videotaped interrogations covers more crimes and contains fewer loopholes, and that their eyewitness identification reform is also stronger.
“It’s important to get this right, and we shouldn’t be accepting proposals that won’t work,” said Heastie spokesman Michael Whyland. “Assembly Democrats have strong bills that will help ensure confidence in our criminal justice system and address these issues in a meaningful way.”
The state Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers supports the Assembly plan.
According to the Innocence Project, 223 wrongful convictions in New York have been overturned since 1989.
lll A one-time Michael Bloomberg aide who was seeking to recruit a Democratic challenger to Mayor de Blasio gave serious thought to asking Preet Bharara.
Bradley Tusk acknowledged he considered approaching Bharara after the Trump administration abruptly fired the Manhattan U.S. attorney. But Tusk’s interest cooled days later after Bharara’s old office announced it was closing an investigation into the mayor and his associates without bringing charges.
“While I think Preet would be fantastic, the narrative of a campaign around corruption is harder to draw when no charges are actually filed,” Tusk said. “But if Preet came to me and said, ‘I want to run,’ I would certainly explore it with him.”
lll Call it paper warfare. Upset with a state Senate Republican budget plan to boost charter schools, the powerful city and state teachers unions said they bombarded GOP senators last week with nearly 20,000 faxes and 1,500 phone calls warning the plan would damage neighborhood public schools.
“Teachers, parents and community activists will stand against any attempt to hurt our students and our schools,” said city United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.
Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif was nonplussed. “We hear from groups and individuals from around the state every day,” he said.