N.Y. Jogger Testifies About Injuries in ‘Wilding’ Attack

The jogger who was raped and beaten during a “wilding” attack in Central Park emerged in public for the first time today to testify against her accused attackers and about the injuries she suffered.

The blonde woman, who prosecutors say was gang raped and left for dead in the April 19, 1989, attack, spoke in a clear and firm voice as she told about waking up in a hospital more than a month after the brutal assault.

A ragged scar was visible on her face, beginning above her left eyebrow and extending down her left cheek. The woman walked shakily to the stand.

Three youths are on trial in the attack on the young investment banker. Antron McCray, 16, Yusef Salaam, 16, and Raymond Santana, 15, have been charged with 13 criminal counts, including attempted murder, rape and sodomy.

“Do you suffer any lasting injuries as a result of what happened to you on April 19, 1989?” asked Assistant Dist. Atty. Elizabeth Lederer.

“I have problems with balance when I’m walking, and coordination. At times, I’ll veer off to the right or the left,” she said. “I have trouble walking down steps. I also lost my sense of smell completely. That has not come back.”

“I have double vision. When I’m reading, I hold papers over to the left to compensate. It takes a fair amount of concentration to make the image one.”

Lederer showed the woman the T-shirt, now almost completely brown with dried blood, that she wore when she was attacked while she was running. Doctors have said she lost three-quarters of her blood before she was found hours after the attack.

“Do you recognize this?” Lederer asked the woman.

“That’s the shirt that I used to wear,” she replied.

“Prior to April 19, 1989, what color was it?” Lederer asked.

“It was white,” she answered.

The 30-year-old woman, who has since resumed her job and has been promoted to vice president at the Salomon Brothers Inc. investment bank, was found the night of the attack lying in a mud puddle, bound, gagged and naked.

State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Galligan granted the jogger’s request that courtroom artists not make any sketches of her, saying it was a “minimal” request that the media should honor. Most news organizations have withheld the woman’s identity from the public because of the nature of the crime.

The woman did not seem to look at the defendants as she testified.

There was no cross-examination by attorneys for the three teen-agers accused of attacking her.