Somehow, one of the most famous miscarriages of justice in the history of the country, once again became a topic of reference in the New York City Council this Monday.
The Public Safety Committee of that legislative body began an investigation to find out what procedures the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is applying to advance best practices to avoid arrests that end in wrongful convictions.
And most prominently, a councilor, Yusef Salaam, who is leading this hearing process, experienced firsthand, as a teenager, the drama of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and paying years in prison for a horrible crime. in which he did not participate.
Salaam, who currently represents Harlem in the municipal chamber, is known as one of the “Central Park Five”, that is, one of the black and Hispanic teenagers who was mistakenly arrested and convicted in April 1989 for having participated in the attack and the rape of a young woman who was jogging in the well-known Manhattan park.
Fourteen-year-olds Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson, 15-year-olds Antron McCray and Yusef Salaam, and 16-year-old Korey Wise were among those arrested for this attack. After hours of interrogation at the Central Park police station, the boys, under duress, said that they did indeed attack the young woman. However, they recanted their confessions and said they only did so under the possibility that they could be released.
Within two days, the five teens were indicted on charges including rape, assault, attempted murder and rioting. In the specific case of Salaam he remained in a juvenile prison for seven years, being innocent.
The five were exonerated in 2002 following a confession by another man supported by DNA evidence. And now they are known as the “Exonerated Five.”
“Today I continue to painfully receive letters from people who are in New York prisons who assure me that they have remained behind bars for years, being innocent. Simply due to poor police procedures. “We are starting a crusade for the NYPD to examine its internal practices and ensure that measures are taken to minimize the risk of wrongful convictions,” Salaam said at the hearing in front of a group of NYPD representatives, led by Joseph Kenny, current chief of police. detectives.
“Now everything is recorded”
In their speech, the Uniformed spokespersons defended that there is currently a transparency system, in light of investments in technological equipment, databases, identity contrast software, body cameras and the monitoring capacity with high resolution cameras, in almost every corner of the city.
“A single unjust conviction is too many. But as one of the country’s most closely watched police forces in the world, by federal monitors, civil organizations and with review procedures available on a case-by-case basis, we can assure that today we are in a very different circumstance. It is not only about the resources that technology provides, but also about our commitment to public safety and justice. It is inhumane to think that we intentionally seek to frame an innocent person,” Kenny said.
Regarding the barriers faced by migrant minorities who do not have English as their first language, at the time of a police interaction or interrogation, the NYPD chief highlighted that as an internal standard, it is a right for detainees to have access to a translator during all stages of this type of process.
Likewise, minors have the right not to answer questions until a defense attorney, one of their parents or, failing that, a relative or member of their community is available.
All these steps are recorded, to include them in the conclusion of the investigation.
One of the complaints that civil rights organizations have raised for decades is that on many occasions, the inability of a detainee to communicate in English has unjustly sent them to prison.
The other problem is that defense lawyers have many obstacles in having detailed access to police files of evidence that allegedly incriminates their clients.
“At this time, most crimes and the identity of the suspects are supported by videos and photographs from various angles, which are generally unequivocal evidence, which has allowed us to reduce the margins of error of eyewitnesses, who are always a big key. But ultimately they are humans, who can also make mistakes or get confused,” the senior NYPD officer stressed before the Public Safety Committee.
Defenders: It’s a lie!
In this session, which will be the first in a sequence of investigative hearings in the Municipal Council, defense lawyers and Human Rights defense organizations also shared their testimonies.
In this group, Jackie Gosdigian, supervising policy advisor at Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS), recalled that she has 15 years working closely in the New York criminal justice system and was radically opposed to the idea that technology has meant advances “objectives” in reducing police procedures, which reduce the possibilities of unjust convictions.
“We have been hearing that millions of dollars are invested in technology provided by companies like Microsoft and IBM that collect videos and irrefutable evidence. But I can testify before you that this does not mean that, at this time, the information collected in the procedures is shared more quickly. And much less, does that mean more transparency. Clearer rules and reforms are required, so that defenders can do our work, with more accessible information at the moment. Not when it is too late,” he asserted.
Likewise, Cassandra Kelly, a criminal defense attorney at the Legal Aid Society, reported that police often do not share with prosecutors all the evidence they collect during investigations.
A new law would be a relief
For his part, Sergio De La Pava, legal director of New York County Defender Services (NYCDS), regretted that at this time, due to the various cracks in the criminal justice administration system, many “great” people are in prison for a serious crime. that they did not commit, which is why it is time for the Municipal Council to join the voices that support state legislation that is only waiting for the signature of Governor Kathy Hochul.
“There are many technological mechanisms such as recordings and body cameras that are being applied, just a few years ago, after decades of failures and injustices. For this reason, it is important to look to the future and demand that the draft ‘Challenge of Unfair Convictions’ be approved this year.
This legislation, which was passed by the New York State Assembly and Senate last spring, would be an important step in giving wrongfully convicted New Yorkers the opportunity to clear their names.
This bill, which is only waiting for the signature of the state president, creates the way for someone unjustly or wrongly convicted of a crime to annul that conviction, even if that person has pleaded guilty. This rule would eliminate the major limitations that currently exist in the courts to promote new evidence after a convicted case.
Under current law, New Yorkers who have pleaded guilty to a crime can challenge their conviction only if the evidence was derived from DNA testing.
While New York has a demonstrated problem with wrongful convictions, it is an outlier in failing to recognize that people who plead guilty may be innocent and therefore have the opportunity for relief in court.
The Wrongful Convictions Challenge Act, which was included in the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus’s People’s Budget improves the post-conviction relief framework by opening up the possibilities for more post-conviction testing and appeals.
The other remedy is that a framework is established for the assignment of attorneys for those with wrongful conviction claims.
New York is one of five U.S. states that does not grant the right to counsel in post-conviction cases, behind states such as Texas and Alabama.
According to the testimonies of several former inmates and criminal lawyers, innocent people accused of serious crimes, who cannot afford bail, feel great pressure to plead guilty, because they fear being subjected to violence or sexual assault in pretrial detention centers. like Rikers Island.
A cost to taxpayers
As the NYPD insisted at the beginning of this investigation, much has changed in the last three decades in the evidence collection system of this police force. District attorneys have also created special “integrity” units to review potentially wrongful convictions.
In 2022 alone, according to data shared by the NYC Comptroller’s Office, the City had to deal with 16 wrongful convictions, the most in years, costing taxpayers $87 million in compensation. For an average of $5.43 million each.
Along with the new technologies used in the investigations, official sources highlight that a growing number of convictions from the 1990s continue to be annulled, when high rates of homicides and other crimes were recorded in the Big Apple.