Korey Wise is an American activist known for advocating criminal justice reform. In 1989, he was wrongly convicted in the Central Park Five Case.
Wise served about 14 years in prison for a crime he never committed. He was acquitted in 2002.
Highlights
- Korey Wise is an American citizen who was wrongly convicted in the Central Park Five Case.
- Korey has learning difficulties and hearing problems, which cause speech impediments.
- The Central Park Five was the case of five teenagers. Four blacks and one Latino were the victims of a biased, wrong, and hasty investigation.
Korey was not a suspect in any crimes in Central Park in 1989. While he was accompanying his friend, he was interrogated by the detectives and wrongly convicted of rioting, assault, and molestation.
At the Democratic National Convention (DNC), Korey Wise spoke, endorsing Kamala Harris as the United States President.
Korey Wise Has A Learning Disability And Hearing Problems
Korey Wise has a learning disability from an early age. In Sarah Burns’s book, “The Central Park Five,” she mentioned that,
Wise had a hearing problem and a learning disability.
He was said to be a gentle, loving boy who was heavily manipulated and taken advantage of his innocence by the detectives who were desperate to solve the case.
The difficulties in learning and hearing limited his school achievement and interaction with others.
WATCH: Yusef Salaam and Korey Wise of Central Park Five speak at the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
— PBS News (@NewsHour) August 23, 2024
“Thirty five years ago, my friends and I were imprisoned for a crime we did not commit. Our youths were stolen from us … because of Donald Trump,” said Wise. pic.twitter.com/CFHTSuRlVH
Furthermore, the Netflix series When They See Us was released in 2019. It depicts the story of five innocent teenagers.
In the series, Korey Wise‘s character is also seen with a speech impediment caused by hearing problems.
Similarly, in the DNC 2024, Wise has difficulty choosing correct words and punctuation for his speech. He seems to repeat the words more frequently.
Furthermore, people with speech impediments find it challenging to get the mouth, jaw, tongue, and vocal tract together to produce recognizable words.
Korey was having similar difficulties while delivering the speech at the DNC.
Central Park Five Refers To Five Black And Hispanic Teenagers Who Were Wrongly Convicted
On April 19, 1989, an estimated 20 to 32 teenagers entered Manhattan’s Central Park. Some of them committed several attacks, assaults, and robberies.
The case took a major turn when 28-year-old Patricia “Trisha” Ellen Meili was found nak*d, gagged, tied, and covered in mud and bl**d.
She was in Central Park for regular jogging but knocked down, dragged, and was violently assaulted physically and sexually.
The incident happened at night, at about 9:00 p.m.; thus, the attackers and culprits could not be identified.
Manhattan (1989). New York residents give their take on the Central Park Five case, where five Black teenagers were convicted of raping and assaulting a white woman at night in Central Park. A serial rapist later confessed to the crime in 2002, clearing them of all charges. pic.twitter.com/JGozEQVmCV
— SOLAECLIPSE®️ (@DrinkSolaPop) November 24, 2019
In the meantime, a group of five boys, four black and one Latino teenager, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise, were taken in custody.
The case drew significant media attention, and the boys were pressured into giving false confessions after hours of intense police interrogation.
Despite the lack of physical evidence connecting them to the crime, they were convicted and served between 6 to 13 years in prison.
In 2002, the actual perpetrator, Matias Reyes, confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence confirmed his involvement.
The convictions were vacated that same year, fully exonerating the five men.
Additional Information
- In 2014, Korey Wise and four other innocent boys filed a lawsuit against New York City, which was settled in 2014 for $41 million due to the injustice they endured.
- In 2015, Wise donated $190k to the University of Colorado Law School Innocence Project, later named the Korey Wise Innocence Project.
- In July 2019, Wise purchased a housing building overlooking Central Park.
