>> reporter: meanwhile, tricia miley is clinging to life in the hospital. >> she was in a coma for aweek. and then she started opening her eyes and looking around. >> reporter: little did she know, she was waking up into a media firestorm. >> a terror spree through central park. >> they found her, and they gang raped her. >> the shockwaves of the tragedy felt both north and south of the park. >> it took politics, rape, racial politics and controversy. >> and it contributed to this heightened sense of fear in new york and this first for vengeance. >> the first trial involved three defendants, raymond santana, antron mccrea and yusef salom. clearly the statements were the most important evidence. >> the looks on the jurors' faces when they watched those videotapes told a devastating story for the defense. >> it's clear, as it has been for a year that prosecutors will depend on videotaped statements by the suspects themselves, but when the defense went on offense this afternoons its strategy also became clear. the teens' lawyers say confessions were cleverly staged. >> there was a huge