In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, Ken Burns tells the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.

Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on August 26, 2014. Classroom Video On Demand is distributed by Infobase for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.

Voice of a Killer (3:38) -- Growing up in Harlem (5:15) -- New York CIty Divided (3:42) -- April 19, 1989 (6:05) -- Central Park Precinct Wednesday 11:00 P.M. (3:30) -- Thursday Morning (5:20) -- Thursday Afternoon (2:10) -- Coached Statements (6:16) -- Coached Statements Under Stress (4:15) -- Videotaped Statements (5:47) -- Videotaped Statements Continued (2:51) -- News Coverage (3:07) -- The Charges and Victim (3:30) -- Death Penalty Debate in New York (3:29) -- Media Discrimination (2:51) -- Press Chronology of "Wilding" Teens (3:37) -- No DNA Match (2:21) -- East Side Serial Rapist (2:56) -- The Trial Begins (3:09) -- The Trial Continues (2:10) -- Defense Strategy and Plea Deal (3:53) -- The Verdict (4:41) -- Second Trial and Verdicts (4:02) -- Prison Life (3:37) -- After Prison (5:34) -- Killer Comes Forward (4:31) -- Motion Granted to Dismiss Convictions (6:26) -- Institutional Protectionism (4:06) -- Irreversible Damage (2:25) -- Prologue (0:43) -- Credits: Ken Burns: The Central Park Five (2:47).