History Series / WhenTheySeeUs

* BittersweetEnding: The boys' names are ultimately cleared and they DO win their civil lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment, but only after they've served their sentences. The police officers who coerced their confessions and the prosecutors who railroaded them face no consequences for their actions and also refuse to admit that they screwed up.[[note]]Though the sudden flood of negative attention the series brought to them did cause two of the prosecutors to resign shortly afterwards.[[/note]] Lastly, while Reyes, who was the true perpetrator of the crime, admitted to it, it was only after the statute of limitations expired that he did, meaning that despite him being in prison, [[KarmaHoudini Reyes would never face proper justice for what he did. He at least is already serving life without parole for an unrelated murder, and so won't get out]].

* BittersweetEnding: The boys' names are ultimately cleared and they DO win their civil lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment, but only after they've served their sentences. The police officers who coerced their confessions and the prosecutors who railroaded them face no consequences for their actions and also refuse to admit that they screwed up.[[note]]Though the sudden flood of negative attention the series brought to them did cause two of the prosecutors to resign shortly afterwards.[[/note]] Lastly, while Reyes, who was the true perpetrator of the crime, admitted to it, it was only after the statute of limitations expired that he did, meaning that despite him being in prison, [[KarmaHoudini Reyes would never face proper justice for what he did]].

* BittersweetEnding: The boys' names are ultimately cleared and they DO win their civil lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment, but only after they've served their sentences. The police officers who coerced their confessions and the prosecutors who railroaded them face no consequences for their actions and also refuse to admit that they screwed up.[[note]]Though the sudden flood of negative attention the series brought to them did cause two of the prosecutors to resign shortly afterwards.[[/note]]

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The miniseries largely glosses over the 5's actual crimes against other people in the park, which included assault and robbery. Perhaps ironically, these helped exonerate them in addition to Reyes' confession, since it was shown they had been elsewhere committing them at the time of the rape. Naturally, this alibi wasn't used at trial, since saying "I was assaulting somebody else" is [[CaptainObvious not really helpful]]. They were also convicted of these crimes along with the rape, but the film omits this (they got thrown out as well due to their questionable confessions).

%%Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment is in full effect - Let’s add examples only from the series and no debating about the nonethical behavior of the police officers towards African Americans.

A 2019 Creator/{{Netflix}} original 4-part docudrama by Creator/AvaDuVernay about the real life [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case Central Park 5 case]]. After five young men in Harlem are accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park, the police coerce them into confessing. In spite of the many holes in the prosecution's case, they are convicted at trial. As four are released after serving time in prison, they have to struggle in getting back their lives.

A 2019 Creator/{{Netflix}} original docudrama by Creator/AvaDuVernay about the real life [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case Central Park 5 case]]. After five young men in Harlem are accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park, the police coerce them into confessing. In spite of the many holes in the prosecution's case, they are convicted at trial. As four are released after serving time in prison, they have to struggle in getting back their lives.

[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let’s add examples only from the series and no debating about the nonethical behavior of the police officers towards African Americans. This is an examples page, and we should leave it at that]].

* RaceLift: The entire NYPD Police Department are white. Most notably the arresting officer who were not white in real life.
** Also the jury were mostly were nonwhite but they are all white here.

* {{Transgender}}: Korey's older sister Marci, shown before and after her transition.

* AcquittedTooLate: Four of the five men had already served their entire sentences by the time they had gotten exonerated, and the fifth had spent more than a decade in prison. The actual rapist could not be charged, despite confessing, because the statute of limitations had run out (he was already doing a life sentence for other crimes though).

* OnceMoreWithClarity: While we see the jogger's broken body in episode one, it's only in episode 4 when Matias Reyes confesses that we see what truly happened that night.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** It has been claimed that all the law enforcement characters get this, as there was more reason to think at first that the 5 were in fact guilty. In particular, Lisa Fairstein is not known to have made openly racist statements which would indicate immediate bias against them.
** Korey's mother didn't reject his sister Marci for being transgender. This has been attested to by his other sister, who is ''also'' transgender, who's slammed this portrayal, saying their mother was completely accepting.

A 2019 Creator/{{Netflix}} original docudrama by Creator/AvaDuVernay about the real life [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case Central Park 5 case]]. After five young men in Harlem are accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park, the police coerce them into confessing. In spite of the many holes in the prosecution's case, they are convicted at trial. As four are released after serving time in prison, they are released and have to struggle in getting back their lives.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The miniseries largely glosses over the 5's actual crimes against other people in the park, which included assault and robbery. Perhaps ironically, these helped exonerate them in addition to Reyes' confession, since it was shown they had been elsewhere committing them at the time of the rape. Naturally, this alibi wasn't used at trial, since saying "I was assaulting somebody else" is [[CaptainObvious not really helpful]]. They were also convicted of these crimes along with the rape, but the film omits this (these got thrown out along with the others due to their questionable confessions).

* DirtyCop: The detectives who investigated the case ignore glaring holes in the case and question the underage boys without attorneys or their parents present.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The miniseries largely glosses over the 5's actual crimes against other people in the park, which included assault and robbery. Perhaps ironically, these helped exonerate them in addition to Reyes' confession, since it was shown they had been elsewhere committing them at the time of the rape. Naturally, this alibi wasn't used at trial, since saying "I was assaulting somebody else" is [[CaptainObvious not really convincing]].

* KarmaHoudini: None of the law enforcement officials get punished for their misconduct; while Reyes will ultimately serve the rest of his life in prison he can't be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.

* MiscarriageOfJustice: Some of the most infamous American wrongful convictions in recent years. Five innocent young men were convicted of and served prison time for a crime they didn't commit, and, despite confessing, Matias Reyes could not be charged because the statute of limitations had run out.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: The fact that the actual perpetrator (a vicious serial rapist and murderer) would feel bad enough to confess after two chance encounters with one of the wrongfully convicted men would be dismissed as ridiculous by Hollywood.....and yet that is exactly what happened in this case.

A 2019 docudrama by Creator/AvaDuVernay about the real life [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case Central Park 5 case]]. After five young men in Harlem are accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park, the police coerce them into confessing. In spite of the many holes in the prosecution's case, they are convicted at trial. As four are released after serving time in prison, they are released and have to struggle in getting back their lives.

* CowboyCop: The police who strong-arm the boys into confessing have NO problem lying to the kids or deliberately keeping their parents away from them; when confronted on it Officer Sheehan only says "I don't know what the fucking Reid technique is, I know what I was taught. THEY KNEW SOMETHING."

* ClearTheirName: The
five's families and supporters try to clear their names, unsuccessfully until Matias Reyes confesses.

* FailedASpotCheck: One of the cops interrogating Matias Reyes failed to notice the similarities between his attacks and the attack on Tricia Meili, despite one having taken place very near to where Meili was assaulted only two days before. The Prosecutors and Judges ALSO failed to make the connection as well.

* AmoralAttorney: Linda Fairstein shamelessly ignores the glaring holes in the case because she's absolutely certain of the boys' guilt and is unwilling to admit she made a mistake.

* FailedASpotCheck: One of the cops interrogating Matias Reyes failed to notice the similarities between his attacks and the attack on Tricia Meili, despite one having taken place very near to where Meili was assaulted only two days before.

* LackOfEmpathy: Linda Fairstein is unrepentant when Nancy Ryan calls her out on her incompetence.

* WhatTheHellHero: Nancy Ryan and her assistant both call out Officer Sheehan for failing to connect Reyes to the jogger attack and for using blatantly unethical interrogation tactics. Nomsa Brath also lambasts the media for failing to do it's job after Reyes confesses, pointing out how the only reason the truth came out was because Reyes felt remorse and came forward rather than because the system actually worked.

* BittersweetEnding: The boys' names are ultimately cleared and ultimately DO win the civil lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment, but only after they've served their sentences. The police officers who coerced their confessions and the prosecutors who railroaded them face no consequences for their actions and also refuse to admit that they screwed up.[[note]]Though the sudden flood of negative attention the series brought to them did cause two of the prosecutors to resign shortly afterwards.[[/note]]
* BlatantLies: Linda Fairstein continues to say that the police did a good job even when it's pointed out that the physical evidence blatantly contradicted the 5's confession.
* ClearTheirName: The five's families and supporters try to clear their names, unsuccessfully until Matias Reyes confesses.

* WhatTheHellHero: Nancy Ryan and her assistant both call out Officer Sheehan for failing to connect Reyes to the jogger attack and for using blatantly unethical interrogation tactics. Nomsa Brath also lambasts the media for failing to do it's job after Reyes confesses, pointing out how the only reason the truth came out was because Reyes felt remorse and came forwards rather than because the system actually worked.

* BittersweetEnding: The boys' names are ultimately cleared, but only after they've served their sentences. The police officers who coerced their confessions and the prosecutors who railroaded them face no consequences for their actions.[[note]]Though the sudden flood of negative attention the series brought to them did cause two of the prosecutors to resign shortly afterwards.[[/note]]

* KarmaHoudini: None of the law enforcement officials get punished for their misconduct.

* WhatTheHellHero: Nancy Ryan and her assistant both call out Officer Sheehan for failing to connect Reyes to the jogger attack and for using blatantly unethical interrogation tactics.

* AcquittedTooLate: Four of the five men had already served their entire sentences by the time they were exonerated, and the fifth had spent more than a decade in prison. The actual rapist could not be charged, despite confessing, because the statute of limitations had run out.