May 2013 Central Park Five FROM PAGE 15


thing as where Korey served all of that time,” she said.


Wise has been struggling with


maintaining his individuality since this nightmare began years ago. Burns said the media contributed.


“I think part of the problem with


that initial coverage in 1989 was that it lumped it all together like they were this ‘wolf pack,’ as the newspaper said,” Burns said.


By the time Reyes confessed to


the crime in 2002, Wise was 30 and the other four young men had returned home; they only served seven years. “If I had [gone] to Spofford [Juvenile Center] with them it would be none of this. Reyes would still be playing stickball,” he said, meaning Reyes never would have confessed had they not run into each other.


Wise still sees his social worker


almost once a week but he doesn’t feel the need for a therapist, Byrialsen said. Wise doesn’t work now; he receives a disability check for being partially deaf in his right ear and having post-traumatic stress. He also gets Supplemental Security Income, a program that pays disabled adults who have limited income and resources.


Wise spends most of his time


hanging around his old neighborhood and speaking on behalf of the Innocence Project at events.


He hardly goes anywhere without


his iPod and headphones. Sometimes when Wise is riding on the train he’ll see a poster for the documentary. “I just feel a pain, it hits me,” he said. “That’s why I try to keep my hip-hop in my ears.”


Over the years his lawyer noticed


that music helped Wise escape his pain. “He still listens to ‘80s music from when he went in,” said Byrialsen. “It’s like he’s still stuck. It’s like he’s still sort of that 16-year-old kid in a way.”


She hopes that he will soon be


able to move on with his life and not be continuously reminded of the past, but her hopes and reality seem farther away than she and Wise would both like.


Looking for justice Wise is suing the city for


$50 million in damages for being wrongfully convicted, a case he filed 10 years ago; it could be a year before he sees any closure. Being unemployed has given him time to sit in the courtroom for about 40 depositions. His lawyers and the defense will have to go through 50 more before this


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summer. During these depositions Wise witnesses the city’s law department present evidence against his case as if they doubt Reyes’s confession should have exonerated him. Watching all of these legal arguments doesn’t do much for Wise’s healing, Byrialsen said.


think he suffers every day,” she said. The city’s law department


“I think that it’s very hurtful. I


responded to this reporter’s request for an interview with an emailed statement from Celeste Koeleveld, executive assistant corporate counsel for public safety, that said in part:


"As we've said before, the City


stands by the decisions made by the detectives and prosecutors. The confessions, hearings, and trials all presented ‘abundant probable cause’ for the plaintiff’s conviction… Nothing unearthed since the trials, including Matias Reyes’s connection to the attack on the jogger -- changes that fact.


Under the circumstances, the City


is proceeding with a vigorous defense of the detectives and prosecutors," Koeleveld wrote.


Byrialsen said the longer this case


remains unsettled, the more Wise’s closure is delayed.


“The thought that you’ve been


exonerated, and you’ve been out all these years and people still think you did it, I don’t think you can ever escape that,” she said.


But Wise said sharing his story


is very therapeutic. Almost weekly, he appears through The Innocence Project in panel discussions, rallies, and screenings of the documentary.


In 2002, after being released, Wise


changed his first name from Kharey to Korey.


Byrialsen said he no longer wants


to be associated with all the negative documents that carry his old name.


Wise thinks highly of Burns for


creating the documentary and giving him the opportunity to share his story. “The doc is beautiful. It hurts to the core,” he said.


Just as he left his old name behind,


he speaks about his past self as if he is two different people.


“I love to see little Korey do his


thing, ‘cause he done died,” he said, meaning prison almost killed his youthful spirit, “and came alive, like, 13 times in 13 years. Little Korey was just looking to have his life. Not have his life torn away from him,” Wise said.


“So when I look at him -- as his


new representative, his lawyer -- I have to give the audience his life, because he’s no longer here to tell it.”


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