Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Judge to Decide on Central Park Five Convictions Today

Aired December 19, 2002 - 10:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're looking at today -- just about a half hour from now, a New York judge could throw out the convictions stemming from the infamous 1989 attack of a Central Park jogger. DNA evidence has implicated a convicted rapist, and could exonerate the five young men who were convicted in the rape and the beating.
Our Deborah Feyerick is covering the case for us, and joins us live now from New York -- Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. Well, it may not be so simple as it seems, because detectives are in court right now. They are trying to stop a judge from overturning those convictions.

The criminal judge is supposed to decide today whether to toss out the guilty verdicts of the five young men because of new evidence that links somebody else to the rape of the Central Park jogger.

However, detectives very angry. They feel that they have not been able to interview the key person in all of this, Matias Reyes, he is a convicted murderer and serial rapist who, earlier this year, confessed that he was the one who had attacked the Central Park jogger back in 1989.

The detectives are also angry because they say that they have not been able to interview other inmates who knew Matias Reyes and contradict his story that he acted alone in the attack.

Now, the detectives want their own investigation. Last week -- several weeks ago, the district attorney found that had the evidence about Matias Reyes been available, it's very likely that the five young men would never have been convicted.

The families of the five, of course, very eager to have the young men cleared before Christmas. They're also planning on filing a lawsuit worth many millions of dollars. Clearly the move by the Detectives' Union could throw a wrench into all of this, but the district attorney's office very confident. They stand by their report. They say that the evidence they found would most likely have meant that the five would not have been convicted. But, again, never simple. The detectives fighting so that they can be involved and conduct their own investigation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Deborah Feyerick in New York city -- thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 19, 2002 - 10:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're looking at today -- just about a half hour from now, a New York judge could throw out the convictions stemming from the infamous 1989 attack of a Central Park jogger. DNA evidence has implicated a convicted rapist, and could exonerate the five young men who were convicted in the rape and the beating.
Our Deborah Feyerick is covering the case for us, and joins us live now from New York -- Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. Well, it may not be so simple as it seems, because detectives are in court right now. They are trying to stop a judge from overturning those convictions.

The criminal judge is supposed to decide today whether to toss out the guilty verdicts of the five young men because of new evidence that links somebody else to the rape of the Central Park jogger.

However, detectives very angry. They feel that they have not been able to interview the key person in all of this, Matias Reyes, he is a convicted murderer and serial rapist who, earlier this year, confessed that he was the one who had attacked the Central Park jogger back in 1989.

The detectives are also angry because they say that they have not been able to interview other inmates who knew Matias Reyes and contradict his story that he acted alone in the attack.

Now, the detectives want their own investigation. Last week -- several weeks ago, the district attorney found that had the evidence about Matias Reyes been available, it's very likely that the five young men would never have been convicted.

The families of the five, of course, very eager to have the young men cleared before Christmas. They're also planning on filing a lawsuit worth many millions of dollars. Clearly the move by the Detectives' Union could throw a wrench into all of this, but the district attorney's office very confident. They stand by their report. They say that the evidence they found would most likely have meant that the five would not have been convicted. But, again, never simple. The detectives fighting so that they can be involved and conduct their own investigation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Deborah Feyerick in New York city -- thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com