17th November 2021

“Wilding, Wolf packs and Wrongful convictions”: A CDA of the US media coverage during the lead up to
the 1990 Central Park Five trial

Leanne Bartley (Universidad de Granada / Simon Fraser University)

Abstract
In recent decades, there has been a notable surge in wrongful convictions (WCs) with experts
estimating that, in the US alone, 3-4%, though most likely more, of the prison population are factually
innocent of any wrongdoing. On the surface, this seems quite low. However, these calculations mean
that those currently incarcerated in the US for a crime they never committed or that never occurred is
anything between 69,000-92,000 people: not such a low number after all. This paper examines WCs,
taking its findings from a case that has gained international recognition following the recent
documentary on Netflix entitled When They See Us and, thus, is concerned with the wrongful conviction
of teenagers Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise,
also known as the Central Park Five (CP5). These five individuals, who were teenagers at the time,
were wrongfully convicted of the rape and attempted murder of Patricial Meili in Central Park, New
York, in 1989. Here, I examine the newspaper coverage of their case in the lead up to trial with the aim
of exploring how the media portrayal of the accused as well as the victim in question may have played
a role in the wrongful conviction of the CP5. In doing so, I also hope to raise awareness to the
prevalence of wrongful convictions more generally.

Biodata
Dr Bartley began working in academia in 2008 after obtaining a research contract at the University of
Jaen. Since then, she has worked at Liverpool Hope University (UK), Swansea University (UK), as well
as Granada University (Spain). At present, she has a Marie-Sklodowska Curie Global Fellowship and is
based between Simon Fraser University (Canada), Cardiff University (UK) and Granada University
(Spain) working on postdoctoral research under the supervision of Professor Maite Taboada and
Professor Encarnación Hidalgo Tenorio. With her main research interests being CDA, SFL and
Forensic Linguistics, in her current research project she examines language use in the legal context
and, specifically, her interests lie with cases of wrongful conviction or sexual assault.