Sixth Teenager Charged in Central Park Jogger Case to Be Exonerated

A forgotten co-defendant of the Central Park Five, who, like them, was charged with the rape of a jogger in a case that shook New York City and the nation, is expected to have a related conviction overturned Monday.

The case against the Five — teenagers of color who were innocent of the 1989 sexual assault on a white woman but who were convicted on the basis of false confessions that the police elicited — continues to shape attitudes surrounding racism in the criminal justice system, the media and society writ large. But the story of the sixth man — Steven Lopez — had previously been all but ignored.

Mr. Lopez, who was arrested when he was 15, struck a deal with prosecutors just before his trial two years later to avoid the more serious rape charge, instead pleading guilty to robbery of a male jogger.

Like his peers, he went to prison; collectively, the group served close to 45 years. Soon after the true assailant in the Central Park rape was identified in 2002, the authorities overturned the rape convictions against the five men. They have gone on to win a $41 million settlement from New York City and become the subjects of films, books and television shows.

But Mr. Lopez, now 48, has not received any settlement money or media attention, and his story is far less well-known.

His robbery conviction is expected to be tossed out in a Manhattan courthouse on Monday. The exoneration will be the first under the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, who vowed during his two years on the campaign trail to bolster the work of the office’s wrongful conviction unit.

A lawyer for Mr. Lopez declined to comment before the hearing. It’s not clear if Mr. Lopez has been in touch with the men now sometimes referred to as the Exonerated Five: Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray and Yusef Salaam.

“We talk about the Central Park Five, the Exonerated Five, but there were six people on that indictment,” Mr. Bragg said. “And the other five who were charged, their convictions were vacated. And it’s now time to have Mr. Lopez’s charge vacated.”

A Signed Confession

Mr. Lopez was 15 when he was arrested and charged with the rape of the jogger, the 28-year-old investment banker, Trisha Meili. Mr. Lopez also faced charges linked to the robbery of a male jogger in the park that same night, April 19, 1989.

According to the review of his case conducted by the Manhattan district attorney’s post-conviction justice unit, Mr. Lopez had been arrested in Central Park after a series of assaults had broken out, including that of the male jogger who was thrown to the ground and beaten.

The police held the teenagers at a precinct for hours and hours, pushing them on the details of what had happened in the park. The teens, who were between 14 and 16 years old, said they were led to blame each other for the crime.

Mr. Lopez was in a holding cell for about 20 hours before he was questioned. His parents, who were not native English speakers, were present, but no translators were provided. After nearly two and a half hours of questioning, a detective wrote out a statement that Mr. Lopez and his father signed.

The statement placed Mr. Lopez…