A co-defendant associated with the “Central Park Five,” who were charged in the rape of a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989, was exonerated at a Manhattan courthouse on Monday.
Chief Administrative Judge Ellen Biben tossed out the robbery conviction of Steven Lopez, now 48, making it the first exoneration under Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to the New York Times.
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“We talk about the Central Park Five, the Exonerated Five, but there were six people on that indictment,” Bragg told the news outlet. “And the other five who were charged, their convictions were vacated. And it’s now time to have Mr. Lopez’s charge vacated.”
Lopez had pleaded guilty to robbing a male jogger in exchange for not being charged with the more serious rape charge in the assault of a female victim, Trisha Meili, who was also a jogger. The other five teenagers tied to the assault, who were charged with the rape, were exonerated after the true rapist was revealed in 2002. All of those teenagers arrested that night were black or Hispanic. Lopez was 15 when he was taken into custody.
“I believe what happened to you was a profound injustice and an American tragedy,” Lopez’s lawyer, Eric Renfroe, said during the hearing. “It is truly painful to see how this system failed you.”
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Lopez did not speak during the hearing except to say “thank you” when the judge wished him well.
