A Chicago private investigator is under investigation for supposedly paying a witness.
Cook County prosecutors contended today that a private investigator working with students at Northwestern University's Innocence Project paid a witness in their investigation of a man they believed was wrongly convicted of murder in 1982.
"This evidence shows that 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," according to a filing made by prosecutors today.
The filing argues the students acted as investigators, not reporters, and as such aren't protected by press rights.
Prosecutors allege that after conducting a 2004 interview with Drakes, an investigator with the team paid a cab driver $60 to take Drakes from the interview site, a park in downstate Swansea, to a gas station two miles away. That amount was more than the fare and tip, and leftover cash -- $40 -- was given to Drakes; he used it to buy crack at a nearby crackhouse, the filing states.
David Protess, director of the Innocence Project, acknowledged Drakes' cab fare was paid but denied it was in exchange for a statement by Drakes implicating himself in the killing.
The filing "is so filled with factual errors that if my students had done this kind of reporting or investigating, I would have given them an F," he said.
Evan Benn, the student who says he handed the cab fare to the driver, said he was given an estimate of $50 for the trip Drakes said he was taking, back to his home.
"We gave the money directly to the cab driver, told him not to give any of the money to Tony Drakes and we got a receipt for that," Benn said. "It was all well documented."
The Innocence Project in 2003 took on the case of Anthony McKinney, convicted of killing a guard, and helped him win a new day incourt. But as they prepare for the hearing on McKinney's fate, prosecutors have focused on the students and teacher who led the investigation.
Lastmonth, the state's attorney subpoenaed the students' grades, notes andrecordings of witness interviews, the class syllabus and even e-mailsthey sent to each other and to professor David Protess of theuniversity's Medill School of Journalism.
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