A co-defendant of the so-called Central Park Five, whose convictions in a notorious 1989 rape of a jogger were thrown out more than a decade later, had his conviction on a related charge overturned Monday.
Steven Lopez was exonerated in response to requests by both Lopez's attorney and prosecutors at a court hearing in Manhattan.
During the hearing, the defence attorney told his client: "I believe what happened to you was a profound injustice and an American tragedy. ... I'm happy to be here today with DA Bragg so we can give you your name back." Prosecutors who reviewed the case had concluded the teenagers' confessions, made after hours of interrogations, were deeply flawed.
Other individuals who linked Lopez to the attacks on the male and female joggers later recanted their allegations in their civil depositions, prosecutors wrote in court papers. The male jogger never identified Lopez as one of the assailants, the papers add.
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