American Notes NEW YORK CITY

When Kevin Richardson, 16, was pronounced guilty of attempted murder and rape, his mother fainted. As Kharey Wise, 18, was being led out of the courtroom after being convicted of sexual abuse, riot and assault, he yelled at Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer, "You bitch! You'll pay for this!" Black spectators shouted, "White justice!"

So ended the second trial resulting from the vicious rape and nearly fatal beating of an investment banker in New York City's Central Park in 1989. Three juveniles were convicted of rape and assault last August. After the latest trial, Richardson faces a maximum sentence of 10 years. Wise, who was treated as an adult, could get up to 26. Their sentences will be pronounced on Jan. 9. A third trial, slated for next month, will determine the fate of the last alleged assailant.

The attack, in which the white woman while jogging was assaulted by a gang of black and Hispanic teenagers, roiled the city's already tense race relations. Black supporters of the youths charged that the media had hypocritically focused on this case while ignoring countless aggressions against nonwhite women. But the jurors -- four whites, four blacks, three Hispanics and one Asian -- insisted that they quickly discarded race as a factor in their 12 days of deliberations.