The battle between prosecutors and Northwestern University journalism program is heating up.
The prosecutors are now accusing students of paying witnesses.
Cook County, Illinois prosecutors were highly criticized by the journalistic community for issuing subpoenas for the grades and off-the-record notes of students who participated in certain cases for the school’s Innocence Project, which investigates potentially wrongful convictions.
But yesterday prosecutors filed papers with the court alleging that students investigating a 1978 shooting paid two witnesses in the hopes that their statements would help exonerate the man convicted of the murder, the Chicago Tribute said. A similar Wall Street Journal report is here.
The prosecutors state that, “The evidence shows that [witness] Tony Drakes gave his video statement upon the understanding that he would receive cash if he gave the answers that inculpated himself and that Drakes promptly used the money
to purchase crack cocaine.”
The payment was $60 given to a cab driver hired to take Drakes home. One of the then-students, Evan Benn, said that he gave the money to the driver directly and told him not to give any of the money to Drakes.
Another witness, the filing said, claims to have been paid $50 or $100, but did not provide details.
Professor David Protess (pictured above, with students, in 1999), who supervises the project, was critical of the prosecutors’ claims, saying their filing was “so filled with factual errors that if my students had done this kind of reporting or investigating, I would have given them an F.”
Holy crap, are they kidding? A cab ride and an unsubstantiated claim of $100 and that’s what they’re concerned about?
Methinks the prosecution has a weak case, is about to get exposed for it, and wants to discredit these kids as quickly as possible. One can only hope a judge sees through this stupidity.
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