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Public Affairs coverage from our award-winning staff |
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Northwestern Students Deny Paying Witness
Produced by Susie An on Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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The Cook County State's Attorney's office says journalism students paid a witness to prove a convicted murderer is innocent. Northwestern University students claim in a class assignment Anthony McKinney was wrongfully charged for a 1978 murder. Former student Evan Benn says he and his classmate only paid for a source's transportation.
BENN: We agreed to pay his cab fare back to his home where he was going. We gave the money directly to the cab driver, told him not to give any of the money to Tony Drake. And we got a receipt for that. It was all well documented.
McKinney will have a new day in court after spending more than 30 years in prison. Prosecutors allege students may have paid witnesses in an effort to get a good grade on the assignment. The state's attorney has subpoenaed grades and emails for the case. Northwestern journalism professor David Protess says he will not turnover the information.
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