Last year a jury awarded Alan Newton $18.5 million for the 22 years he spent in prison for a rape he didn't commit and yesterday a judge took it all away. In a 31-page decision Judge Shira Scheindlin argued that Newton didn't deserve the money because the city had not intentionally violated his civil rights, writing "It is not enough for Newton to have shown that the city's posttrial evidence management system is disorganized...As disturbing as such negligence may be, in the end, that is what it is: mere negligence." more ›

Alan Newton served over 21 years in prison for a rape, robbery and assault he didn't commit, before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2006. Yesterday, he was awarded $18.5 million by a jury for his wrongful imprisonment, one of the largest ever amounts awarded for wrongful imprisonment in NYC. “It hasn’t really sunk in. It’s so emotional. It’s something I’ve been fighting for the last four years, since I came home. I’m just glad things worked out at the end of the day,” he told the Times. more ›

Twenty years ago yesterday, a 28-year-old investment banker was jogging in Central Park when she was brutally beaten and raped. The Daily News recently wrote that the crime "crystallized the feeling that New York was out of control" and sparked racial tensions, as five black and Hispanic teens, accused of being a "wolf pack" of teens "wilding" in the park, were arrested, convicted and served time for the crime. And then, in 2002, a convicted killer admitted he was the real attacker; after his DNA matched DNA evidence from the crime, the Manhattan DA's moved to vacate the falsely imprisoned five's convictions. more ›