JUSTICE CHARLES TEJADA IN COURT, 2002 (photo)

New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Tejada looks on during proceedings in Lower Manhattan, December 19, 2002, in which he dismissed the convictions of all five men who served years in prison for the 1989 rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park, a crime that exposed the city's racial tensions and made national headlines. The five men weren't in the courtroom to hear the ruling Thursday. Authorities a year ago began investigating claims by a serial rapist who said he alone attacked the 28-year-old woman as she jogged in Central Park on April 19, 1989. DNA testing showed semen samples from the scene belonged to Matias Reyes and new forensic tests, more precise than those used a decade ago, failed to link the five convicted men to the rape. REUTERS/POOL/Ozier Muhammad SK/ME