Recent Court Order on Discovery Narrows Window for Settlement
Comptroller
John C. Liu is urging the Mayor to instruct the New York City Law
Department to negotiate promptly an appropriate
settlement to the “Central Park Five” lawsuit, after lawyers for the
five unjustly imprisoned men clearly expressed a willingness to engage
in meaningful settlement discussions and a federal court set a deadline
on discovery for the case, a significant development
on the part of the court.
“The Law Department’s stance of refusing
to explore a fair and just settlement of this lawsuit is imprudent,”
Comptroller Liu wrote in a March 25 letter to Mayor Bloomberg. “I urge
you to exercise your executive
authority to assist in closing this terrible chapter in our City’s
history, so that New Yorkers can finally put an end to the painful
‘Central Park Five’ saga.”
Pointing to flaws in the prosecution of
the Five identified in 2002 by then-District Attorney Robert Morgenthau,
Liu threw the risks of the City’s refusal to negotiate into sharp
relief.
“The disturbing facts associated with this
case raise the risk that at a civil trial of the Central Park Five’s
claims, a jury may be persuaded that the NYPD or DA violated standards
in investigating and prosecuting
the Central Park Five,” he wrote. “Such a jury outcome could be very
costly to the City.”
Under the City Charter, the Comptroller’s
office approves all settlements for the City. Liu earlier this year
warned that prolonging the case risks exposing the City to mounting
legal costs, and he has continued
to urge both sides to come to the table as soon as possible, even
offering his boardroom as a venue for the discussions. His renewed call
comes in light of a recent court order directing that fact discovery in
the case be completed by early June (see attachment)
and a letter from lawyers for the Central Park Five accepting his offer
(see attachment).
Text of Comptroller Liu’s Letter to Mayor Bloomberg, March 25, 2013:
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
I urge you to direct the New York City Law
Department to negotiate promptly an appropriate settlement of the
federal lawsuit brought by the ‘Central Park Five.’
More than ten years have passed since the
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DA) advised New York State Supreme
Court Justice Charles J. Tejada, in great detail and under penalty of
perjury, that had newly
available evidence “been received at trial, the verdict would have been
more favorable to defendant[s].” The DA also informed the Court that
the many gaps and flaws in the defendants’ confessions “should have been
apparent at time of trial” and that the career
rapist and robber who later confessed to the attack had also admitted
attacking many young women in and near Central Park in the months before
the attack, including a rape and robbery in the Park just two days
beforehand.
The Court, perhaps in response to the
growing outcry from countless New Yorkers outraged that this case
remains unresolved after so many years, has now ordered the parties to
complete all discovery in the case,
which has dragged on for a decade, by the beginning of June. We believe
this is a very significant development.
As the trial of this case inevitably draws
closer, litigation experience clearly demonstrates that now is an
appropriate time for both parties to negotiate in earnest. Prolonging
the discovery process further
only serves to increase the risk that City taxpayers will ultimately
bear responsibility for significant attorneys’ fees incurred by
plaintiffs.
Moreover, the disturbing facts associated
with this case raise the risk that at a civil trial of the Central Park
Five’s claims, a jury may be persuaded that the NYPD or DA violated
standards in investigating
and prosecuting the Central Park Five. Such a jury outcome could be
very costly to the City.
The Law Department’s stance of refusing to
explore a fair and just settlement of this lawsuit is imprudent. As
indicated in the attached letter from plaintiffs’ counsel, plaintiffs
have been and remain ready
to engage in meaningful settlement discussions. It is in the City’s
best interest to engage in these discussions.
My office has the legal expertise and for
decades has worked with the Law Department to negotiate fair settlements
in many complex and high profile litigations, and I am confident that
we can do so here. A
news report in the New York Times last month about the Law
Department’s initiative to decide which police and federal civil rights
cases should be “no pay” also points to the risk of that strategy
ultimately costing the City more money. In this case,
that risk is significant.
As I have said
before, the young men who were wrongly imprisoned for this crime may not
have been angels. However, basic fairness in light of the facts of
this case, and the need to protect
the City against a possibly costly trial outcome, all support a serious
effort to settle this matter.
This troubling case has spanned the
administrations of three of your predecessors. In the last year of your
third term as Mayor, I urge you to exercise your executive authority to
assist in closing this terrible
chapter in our City’s history, so that New Yorkers can finally put an
end to the painful ‘Central Park Five’ saga.
Sincerely,
John C. Liu
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