Linda Fairstein

Linda Fairstein (born May 5, 1947) is an American author, attorney, and former New York City prosecutor focusing on crimes of violence against women and children. She was the head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's office from 1976 until 2002.

Linda Fairstein
Linda Fairstein (2009)
Born (1947-05-05) May 5, 1947
Mount Vernon, New York[1]
OccupationNovelist, former Assistant District Attorney and Head of Sex Crimes Unit of the County of New York
NationalityAmerican
Alma materVassar College (BA)
University of Virginia (JD)
Period1996–present
GenreCrime
Notable awards
Spouses
Justin Feldman
​
​
(m. 1987; died 2011)​
Michael Goldberg
​
(m. 2014)​
Website
lindafairstein.com

During that time, she oversaw the prosecution of the Central Park Five case, wherein five teenagers, four African-American and one Hispanic, were wrongfully convicted for the 1989 rape and assault in Central Park of a white female jogger. All five convictions were vacated in 2002 after Matias Reyes, a convicted serial rapist and murderer, confessed to having been the sole perpetrator of the crime, and DNA testing showed he was the sole contributor of the DNA of the semen on the victim. After Reyes's confession in 2002, Fairstein still maintained that the wrongfully convicted teenage boys were guilty and she lauded the police investigation as "brilliant".[3] In 2018, she insisted that the teenagers' confessions had not been coerced.[4]

After she left the DA's office in 2002, Fairstein began to publish mystery novels featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper.[5] Several have been bestsellers. In June 2019, after the release of the Netflix series When They See Us about the Central Park Five, Fairstein's publisher, Dutton, dropped her.[6]

Education

Fairstein graduated with honors from Vassar College in 1969, with a degree in English literature. She graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972, where she was one of a dozen women in her class.[5]

Fairstein joined the Manhattan District Attorney's office in 1972 as an Assistant District Attorney. In 1976 she was promoted to the head of the sex crimes unit, where she worked to support victims of crime.[7] During her tenure, she prosecuted controversial and highly publicized cases, such as the "Preppy Murder case" against Robert Chambers in 1986, and the 1998 People v. Jovanovic cases.[7][8]

Fairstein, as Head of Sex Crimes, oversaw the prosecution of five juvenile defendants known as the "Central Park Five" in the 1989 "Central Park Jogger" case. The case was prosecuted by ADAs Elizabeth Lederer and Arthur Clements, with trials held in 1990.[9] The convictions in the case were vacated in 2002 following a confession by the perpetrator, a convicted serial rapist and murderer, and confirmation by a DNA match to evidence at the scene.[10]

Fairstein left the District Attorney's office in 2002, and has continued to consult, write, lecture and serve as a sex crimes expert for a wide variety of print and television media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC and Larry King, among others. She has consulted for a number of media outlets during a number of high-profile prosecutions, including Michael Jackson's molestation charges in 2004,[11] Kobe Bryant's sexual assault charges,[12] and Scott Peterson's trial.[13]

She was also reportedly involved with a defense of Harvey Weinstein, helping to silence one of the sexual harassment complaints against him.[14]

Fairstein founded the Domestic Violence Committee of the New York Women's Agenda. She is a frequent speaker on issues related to domestic abuse.[15]

Investigation, conviction and appeal

Fairstein's office supervised the prosecution in 1989 and 1990 of the Central Park Jogger case, which ended in the conviction of five teenagers[16] whose convictions were later vacated. In a civil rights lawsuit filed in 2003, the five who were convicted claimed that Fairstein, with the assistance of the detectives at the 20th Precinct, coerced false confessions from them following up to thirty straight hours of interrogation and intimidation, of both the youths and their supporting adults.[17] When Assistant US attorney David Nocenti, a "Big Brother" mentor to Yusef Salaam, one of the defendants, appeared at the precinct while the defendant was being grilled, plaintiffs claimed, Fairstein verbally abused him, demanded he leave immediately, and called her husband to demand the home number of Nocenti's boss, Brooklyn US Attorney Andrew Maloney, so she could get the young attorney fired.[17][18]

Fairstein said "Nobody under sixteen was talked to until a parent or guardian arrived... Three of the five went home and had a night's sleep before they were ever taken into custody. For most of them, the substance of their admissions came out within about an hour of the time they came in... I think Reyes ran with that pack of kids. He stayed longer when the others moved on. He completed the assault. I don't think there is a question in the minds of anyone present during the interrogation process that these five men were participants, not only in the other attacks that night but in the attack on the jogger. I watched more than thirty detectives—black, white, Hispanic guys who'd never met each other before—conduct a brilliant investigation."[19] Lawyers for the five defendants contested almost every element of Fairstein's statement.[19]

All five accused teenagers later claimed their confessions were coerced during interrogation through lies and intimidation.[20] In 1990 each of the "Central Park Five" were convicted of various assault and sexual battery charges, based in part on the allegedly false confessions obtained from them in 1989.[16] Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise had signed written confessions, while Yousef Salaam made a verbal confession but refused to sign.[17]

Their convictions were upheld on appeal. Appellate court judge Vito Titone specifically named Fairstein in his dissenting opinion on the Salaam appeal. He said in an interview, "I was concerned about a criminal justice system that would tolerate the conduct of the prosecutor, Linda Fairstein, who deliberately engineered the 15-year-old's confession. ... Fairstein wanted to make a name. She didn't care. She wasn't a human."[17]

Vacating of convictions

All five convictions were vacated in 2002 after convicted rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the crime.[21][22][23] Reyes confessed after he "found religion."[6] The police had recovered DNA of only one man at the site of the crime, and none of the Central Park Five matched. The semen found on the victim contained DNA matching that of Reyes, confirming that he was the sole contributor, to a certainty of six billion to one.[24]

Aftermath

In 2003, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana Jr., and Antron McCray sued the city of New York for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination and emotional distress.[25] It wasn't until Mayor De Blasio took office 11 years later that a settlement in the case was reached on June 19, 2014, for $41 million.[16]

Ken Burns and his daughter Sarah and her husband made a documentary film about the case, which he compared to the Scottsboro Boys case.[26] The film, The Central Park Five, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012 and was released on November 23, 2012.

In May 2019, Netflix released a four-part drama series, When They See Us, about the case, directed by Ava DuVernay. In it, actress Felicity Huffman portrays Fairstein. Soon after the release, Fairstein's publisher, E.P. Dutton, released her as a client.[6] Fairstein was also forced to resign from various non-profit board roles, including Safe Horizon.[27] Fairstein also resigned from the Board of Trustees of Vassar College, her alma mater, after considerable pressure from the student body and members of the administration.[28]

On June 10, 2019, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Fairstein, Netflix’s False Story of the Central Park Five, in which she says that five were not "totally innocent" (citing the other crimes they were convicted for, for which, she asserts, there is still substantial evidence) and that DuVernay had defamed her.[29][30] In March 2020, Fairstein filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Netflix, DuVernay, and series writer Attica Locke for defamation based on her portrayal in the series.[31][32]

Jovanovic controversy

Oliver Jovanovic sued Fairstein, alleging that she engaged in "false arrest, malicious prosecution, malicious abuse of process and denial of his right to a fair trial".[33] This lawsuit stemmed from Fairstein's successful prosecution of Jovanovic in the case People v. Jovanovic, which was subsequently overturned on appeal.[34] It was dismissed with prejudice by a new trial judge. The dismissal was requested "in the interest of justice" by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau.[35]

There was no physical evidence linking Jovanovic to the crime. While his accuser claimed she had been brutally attacked and left bleeding, she was found to have only a few fading bruises. "If she [Fairstein] couldn't tell this was a false report, well, I am just shocked," said former New York City sex crimes detective John Baeza, who worked in defense of Jovanovic after leaving the force.[17]

The $10 million lawsuit against Fairstein and two co-defendants, former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Gail Heatherly, who now teaches at the Columbia Law School, and New York City Police Detective Milton Bonilla, was dismissed on summary judgment in September 2010.[36]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Fairstein assisted District Attorney Vance in his decision not to prosecute Dominique Strauss-Kahn for sexual assault in 2012. Fairstein's writing skills came into play in writing up the decision not to charge.[37]

Awards

Among the awards Fairstein has received are the Federal Bar Council's Emory Buckner Award for Public Service, Glamour Magazine's Woman of the Year Award, and the Nero Wolfe Award for Excellence in Crime Writing.[2]

In 2018, the Mystery Writers of America announced that it would honor Fairstein with one of its "Grand Master" awards for literary achievement. But two days after renewed controversy erupted in connection with her role in the case, the organization withdrew the honor.[38] In 2019, shortly after the release of the Netflix series When They See Us about the Central Park Five case, Glamour Magazine said that the 1993 Woman of the Year Award to Fairstein was a mistake and that it was given to her before the full facts of the case were known.[39]

Writing career

Alexandra Cooper series
Linda Fairstein at the University of Scranton 2003 Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award presentation.

Fairstein has written several crime novels featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. The novels draw on Fairstein's legal expertise and several have become international best sellers.[40]

The titles are:

  • Final Jeopardy (1996)[1]
  • Likely To Die (1997)[1]
  • Cold Hit (1999)[1]
  • The Dead-House (2001)[1] (Nero Award winner)
  • The Bone Vault (2003)[1]
  • The Kills (2004)[1]
  • Entombed (2005)[1]
  • Death Dance (2006)[1]
  • Bad Blood (2007)[41]
  • Killer Heat (2008)[41]
  • Lethal Legacy (2009)[42]
  • Hell Gate (2010)[43]
  • Silent Mercy (March 2011)[43]
  • Night Watch (July 2012)[43]
  • Death Angel (2013)[43]
  • Terminal City (2014)[43]
  • Devil's Bridge (2015)[44]
  • Killer Look (2016)[45]
  • Deadfall (2017)
  • Blood Oath (2019)

Devlin Quick series
  • Into the Lion's Den (2016)
  • Digging for Trouble (2017)
  • Secrets from the Deep (2018)

Nonfiction
  • Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape (1993)[1][43]

Awards

Among her awards are the:

Personal life

Fairstein grew up in Mount Vernon, New York.[47] Her father's family were Russian Jews who immigrated in the early 1900s. Her mother is of Northern Irish, Finnish and Swedish descent.[48] She was married to lawyer Justin Feldman from 1987 until his death in 2011 at the age of 92.[49][50] In September 2014 she married lawyer Michael Goldberg, a long-time friend and classmate at the University of Virginia School of Law, at their home in Martha's Vineyard. Fairstein and Goldberg reside in the Upper East Side in New York.[47]

References
  1. Lindsay, Elizabeth Blakesley (2007). Great Women Mystery Writers (2nd ed.). Greenwood Press. pp. 78. ISBN 978-0-313-33428-3.
  2. Linda Fairstein ’69 - Board of Trustees - Vassar College
  3. Dickson, E. J.; Dickson, E. J. (2019-06-07). "Who Is Linda Fairstein, the Prosecutor in 'When They See Us'?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  4. Fairstein, Linda (2019-06-03). "In Defense of The Central Park 5 Prosecution". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  5. "Author, former prosecutor Linda Fairstein 'humbled' by Women of Achievement honorees". SILive.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  6. "Publisher drops Central Park Five prosecutor". BBC News. 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  7. Bouton, Katherine (1990-02-25). "Linda Fairstein vs. Rape". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  8. Zraick, Karen (2010-09-28). "Lawsuit Over Sex Arrest Is Dismissed". City Room. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  9. Sullivan, Ronald. "Father Defends His Son At Central Park Trial". Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  10. Susman, Tina. "Central Park Five: Money was not the issue in settlement with NYC". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  11. Fairstein, Linda (2004-04-30). "Michael Jackson Arraigned". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  12. "American Morning". CNN. 2003-12-19. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  13. "American Morning". CNN. 2003-12-25. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  14. Gross, Terry (November 15, 2017). 'Times' Reporters Describe How A Paper Trail Helped Break The Weinstein Story. NPR Fresh Air. …There was this Italian model who showed up to the Weinstein Co. for a business meeting with Harvey Weinstein. And within hours of leaving, she went to the police department here in New York and said that he had groped her and that she was willing to make a police complaint about it. …there was a whole team that swooped in to help Harvey Weinstein fight that in a counterattack effort. There were private investigators who were dispatched to basically dig up dirt on her. There were stories planted in the tabloids to basically disparage her background. There were high-profile attorneys who stepped up to Harvey's side, including Linda Fairstein, the former sex crimes prosecutor here in Manhattan, (with Cyrus Vance) who was willing to facilitate introductions to the current sex crimes prosecutor who was handling the case. And within weeks that case was dead.
  15. Connic, Jennifer (2006-10-22). "Fairstein Addresses Issues of Domestic Violence". Westport Now. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  16. Weiser, Benjamin (June 19, 2014). "5 Exonerated in Central Park Jogger Case Will Settle Suit for $40 Million". The New York Times.
  17. Little, Rivka Gewirtz (November 19, 2002). "Ash-Blond Ambition Prosecutor Linda Fairstein May Have Tried Too Hard". Village Voice.
  18. Timothy John Sullivan (November 1992). Unequal Verdicts: the Central Park jogger trials. American Lawyer Books/Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-74237-9.
  19. Toobin, Jeffrey (November 24, 2002). "A Prosecutor Speaks Up". The New Yorker.
  20. Schanberg, Sydney. "A Journey Through the Tangled Case of the Central Park Jogger". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2008-06-21. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  21. Saulny, Susan (2002-12-20). "Convictions and Charges Voided In '89 Central Park Jogger Attack". New York Times. Thirteen years after an investment banker jogging in Central Park was savagely beaten, raped and left for dead, a Manhattan judge threw out the convictions yesterday of the five young men who had confessed to attacking the woman on a night of violence that stunned the city and the nation.
  22. Saulny, Susan. "Convictions and Charges Voided In '89 Central Park Jogger Attack". New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  23. Central Park Jogger Convictions Vacated Law.com.
  24. "Affirmation in Response to Motion to Vacate Judgment of Conviction: The People of the State of New York -against- Kharey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana, Defendants" (PDF). Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, New York County. 2002-12-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  25. Vincent, Glyn (July 7, 2009). "Ken Burns Illuminates Jogger Case". Huffington Post.
  26. Jensen, Elizabeth (2009-09-10). "Ken Burns, the Voice of the Wilderness". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  27. Storey, Kate (2019-06-05). "Central Park Five Prosecutor Linda Fairstein Has Responded to When They See Us Backlash". Esquire. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  28. https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/education/2019/06/04/linda-fairstein-central-park-five-case-resigns-vassar/1345650001/
  29. Fairstein, Linda (2019-06-10). "Opinion | Netflix's False Story of the Central Park Five". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  30. Harris, Elizabeth A. (2019-06-11). "Linda Fairstein Attacks Her Portrayal in 'When They See Us'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  31. Moghe, Sonia (March 18, 2020). "'When They See Us' creators sued for defamation by former prosecutor". CNN. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  32. Faughnder, Ryan (March 18, 2020). "She was the villain in 'When They See Us.' Now she's suing Ava DuVernay and Netflix". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  34. Decision of Supreme Court, Appellate Division, December 1999, including summary of all relevant facts
  35. Charges Dismissed in Columbia Sexual Torture Case, The New York Times, November 2, 2001.
  36. Hamblett, Mark. "Court Throws Out Civil Rights Suit Filed After Dismissal of 'Cybersex Torture' Charges". Law.com. ALM. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  37. John Solomon (5 June 2012). DSK: The Scandal That Brought Down Dominique Strauss-Kahn. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-01264-7.
  38. Piccoli, Sean; Gold, Michael (November 28, 2018). "After Furor, Literary Group Withdraws Honor for 'Central Park Five' Prosecutor". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  39. "A Note on Linda Fairstein's 1993 Woman of the Year Award". Glamour. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  40. Jeffries, Stuart (2004-02-27). "The Rapist Hunter". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  41. Janet Husband; Jonathan F. Husband (2009). Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series. American Library Association. pp. 186–. ISBN 978-0-8389-0967-6.
  42. "Lethal Legacy Review". Kirkus Reviews. February 10, 2009.
  43. "Linda Fairstein". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  44. Fairstein, Linda A. (2015). Amazon listing. ISBN 978-0525953890.
  45. "Killer Look". Penguin Random House. Penguin Random House. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  46. "The Academic Nurse". The Journal of the Columbia University School of Nursing. Vol. 18 no. 2. 2001. p. 3.
  47. Shattuck, Kathryn (2017-09-12). "Linda Fairstein Looks Crime in the Face and Smiles". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  48. Yona Zeldis McDonough (January 13, 2017). "This Groundbreaking Lawyer-Turned-Novelist Has Just Published a New Series". Lilith. Archived from the original on 2017-03-13.
  49. Grimes, William (2011-09-24). "Justin N. Feldman, 92, Dies; Opposed Tammany Hall". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  50. Kaufman, Joanne (2014-04-24). "The Case of the Disappearing Chintz". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
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