More on the tossing of the verdicts in the Central Park Jogger case:

"Michael Warren and Roger Wareham, lawyers for three of the men, spoke of justice denied for so long, justice granted yesterday, and demands of reparations. Civil suits would come, they said. They contend that the confessions were coerced by the police."

"We must first obtain justice on behalf of these young men, on behalf of their families who have been put through a terrible ordeal," Mr. Warren said. "Their youth was stolen from them, was snatched away from them, they were not able to enjoy the fruits of a childhood simply because they existed behind the cold prison bars for crimes they did not commit."

Where are the five unjustly convicted youths today?

"McCray is married, has three children and works in a factory; Richardson is a night watchman and goes to school; Salaam goes to school for computer science; Wise is looking for work; Santana is in prison for an unrelated crime."

The Judge did not mention false confessions or police interrogation procedures in his 21 page ruling. Rather, he wrote:

"It is virtually self-evident that the newly discovered evidence, specifically the confession of a self-admitted murderer and serial rapist, corroborated by physical evidence including scientific testing establishing that he was the sole source of DNA evidence ... would create the probability that had such evidence been received at trial, the verdict would have been more favorable to the defendants."

The courtroom was packed with supporters of the men who as teenagers had served seven to twelve years in prison for the crime. The five men did not appear in court, as they wanted to avoide the media.