Central Park Five to get $41 million

A wrongful conviction settlement for a group known as the Central Park Five has been approved by a U.S. federal judge. The city of New York now will pay $41million to five men who were wrongfully convicted, The Guardian reported.

The incident that five men were convicted for was the rape and beating of a woman in Central Park in 1989. The attack was extremely brutal. The victim, Trishia Meili, was a 28-year-old investment banker who was jogging at the park when she was attacked. She had lost 75% of her blood and had a smashed skull when she was found. She stayed in a comatose state for 12 days and was left with permanent damage. She couldn't remember anything about the attack. The incident was widely cited as evidence that the crime rate in the city was out of control, The Guardian said. 

The five men were teenagers at the time of the assault, and were arrested right after the incident. During the police interrogations, they confessed to the crime. Although they were innocent, they confessed to the crime. They later recanted their confessions, which they claimed were made in a state of exhaustion after hours of interrogations. The group also made allegations that the police coerced them into making the confession.

The Central Park Five served six to 13 years in prison until the reevaluation of some DNA evidence in 2002 suggested another suspect might be behind the attack. Matias Reyes, a serial rapist and murderer, confessed to the crime and five men were eventually exonerated.

The Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio commented on the settlement and described it as, "an act of justice that was long overdue," The Guardian said. The former mayor of the city, Michael Bloomberg, had fought the lawsuit during his tenure.