Review by Booklist Review
The story of the brutal attack on and rape of a 28-year-old up-and-coming investment banker who was jogging in Central Park on the evening of April 19, 1989, and the subsequent claims by the youthful attackers that they were on a "wilding" spree is well known. This intensely detailed account instead focuses on "how trial lawyers dealt with one of the most explosive criminal cases to hit New York courts." Wily prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer's handling of the case was central to the effort, from the initial videotapings of the accused, who told wildly divergent accounts of that evening, to the debating of circumstantial, inconclusive evidence during the trials. The mind-boggling collection of facts, conflicting testimonies, and other details is much too devoid of personalized description to hold general interest. However, readers who remain intrigued with this tragic, senseless crime may appreciate this well-documented examination. ~--Sue-Ellen Beauregard
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
On April 19, 1989, a young, white, female investment banker --her name has been withheld throughout the case-- jogging in Manhattan's Central Park was raped and severely beaten by a group of African American and Hispanic teenagers. Shortly before the assault, this gang also attacked others who were using the park for so-called ``wilding.'' In his absorbing book, Sullivan, news editor for the Courtroom Television Network, skillfully sorts through diverse details of the investigations and trials. Relying also on transcripts and interviews with lawyers and jurors, he demonstrates how prosecutors developed their case from circumstantial evidence, how numerous errors were made by defense attorneys and why one of the more implicated defendants received a relatively light sentence. Less satisfying is the fact that the author fails to discuss the role of the press and issues of gender, race and class raised by the case. are virtually ignored. Film rights optioned to Edgar Scherick Productions for HBO; Literary Guild alternate. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Sullivan's lively style gives immediacy again to the Central Park jogger case--not surprisingly, as he is news editor of Court TV and a former editor of Manhattan Lawyer . He covers the arrest through sentencing of ten teenage boys in two trials, which took place in New York from spring 1989 through spring 1991. Sullivan's narrative is always absorbing, despite the jumble of details about the criminal justice system, attorneys, police, and juries whom he interviewed. The first book on the Central Park ``wilding'' cases, it is significant for what it does not do: it does not continue the histrionics of previous reportage; it does not speculate on the historical truths and myths of gender and race relations; and it does not portray the case as a symbol of urban violence, New York City's brutalization, or larger social issues. One of Sullivan's aims is apparently to present enough background to put to rest contentions of an unfair trial. Recommended for general readers and young people.-- Janice Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sullivan (news editor of the Courtroom Television Network) analyzes the Central Park Jogger trials in grim and fast-paced fashion. The April 21, 1989, assault on the anonymous woman known only as the ``Central Park jogger'' was not simply a rape. In its grotesque, stomach-churning brutality, the beating and sexual abuse of this lone woman by a gang of youths horrified a city that thought itself accustomed to chronic violence. Sullivan tells the gruesomely fascinating story of how an apparently iron-clad case- -buttressed by videotaped confessions and assisted by rulings of a fair but prosecution-minded judge--became a legal Rashomon: The physical evidence of rape did not link the assault with the defendants; the victim was unable to remember anything of the incident; witnesses could testify to only parts of the case; and defendants recanted much of their confessions and contradicted one another. Sullivan reveals ``how messy, complicated, and imperfect'' the process of searching for truth and justice can be, and how the results of a criminal trial can hinge on procedural minutiae, the political climate in which the trial is held, the skills of prosecutors and defense attorneys, the personalities of judge and jurors, and even the race and socioeconomic class of the victim and the accused. In the end, prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer, whom Sullivan represents as highly skilled and dedicated, was able to achieve convictions, but Sullivan demonstrates that the verdicts, and the sentences for the ten defendants who were convicted (which ranged from 5 to 15 years for rape and assault to one year for robbery), hinged on factors incidental to the actual guilt of the accused. Sullivan shows, disturbingly, that the result of a trial depends on ``a series of haunting `what ifs.' '' An excellent report of an important trial, though saddening and rough on the stomach.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
