The Central Park Five

The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
by Sarah Burns
Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. 240 pgs. Nonfiction

On April 20, 1989, an injured woman is discovered in Central Park; she has been so badly hurt that she will spend the next five weeks in a coma. Within days, five black and Latino teenagers confess to her rape and beating. In a city where urban crime is at a high and violence is frequent, the ensuing media frenzy and hysterical public reaction is extraordinary. The young men are tried as adults and convicted of rape, despite the fact that the teens quickly recant their inconsistent and inaccurate confessions and that no DNA tests or eyewitness accounts tie any of them to the victim. They serve their complete sentences before another man, serial rapist Matias Reyes, confesses to the crime and is connected to it by DNA testing.

This book focuses on the five boys at the center of the case and the reasons why the justice system failed them. It did occasionally feel a bit superficial (the book is fairly short) and it does not cover all aspects of the crime or its victim. However, I did feel that it still provided important insights, not only into the police procedures but also into the culture of New York City at the time the crime occurred. I also felt like I could finally understand why someone might confess to a crime they didn’t commit, and why the attack still plays such a big role in American culture even though what most people think they know about it is wrong.

JC