Exonerated Five Extends Support to Steven Lopez, Sixth Person Exonerated in Jogger Case

On behalf of members of the Exonerated 5 and the Innocence Project, we extend our deepest support to Steven Lopez.

07.26.22 By Innocence Staff

Steven Lopez arrives in court for a hearing, Monday, July 25, 2022, in New York. Lopez, a co-defendant of the so-called Central Park Five, whose convictions in a notorious 1989 rape of a jogger were thrown out more than a decade later, had his conviction on a related charge overturned Monday. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Steven Lopez arrives in court for a hearing, Monday, July 25, 2022, in New York. Lopez, a co-defendant of the so-called Central Park Five, whose convictions in a notorious 1989 rape of a jogger were thrown out more than a decade later, had his conviction on a related charge overturned Monday. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

On behalf of members of the Exonerated 5 and the Innocence Project, we extend our deepest support to Steven Lopez. No one should suffer such a grave injustice. We hope that the court’s decision serves as a catalyst for Mr. Lopez in his healing from this horrendous and protracted ordeal. 

We commend Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his office’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit for pursuing truth and justice in this case by asking the court to vacate Mr. Lopez’s guilty plea and dismiss the indictment after all these years. D.A. Bragg acknowledged that “Mr. Lopez was charged and pleaded guilty in the face of false statements, unreliable forensic analysis and immense external pressure.”