Prosecutors seek students’ grades

CHICAGO – A Northwestern University professor and journalism students who spent three years investigating the case of a man convicted in the 1978 killing of a security guard believe that they have evidence that shows prosecutors put the wrong man behind bars. But in the quest to prove his innocence, they might have to defend themselves, too.

Cook County prosecutors have outraged the university and the journalism community by issuing subpoenas to professor David Protess seeking his students’ grades, his syllabus and their private e-mails. Prosecutors claim since the team was made up of students, they might have been under pressure to prove the case to get a good grade.

It’s a first for Protess and his investigative reporting students, who have helped free 11 innocent men from prison, including death row, since 1996. Their work also is credited with prompting then-Gov. George Ryan to empty the state’s death row in 2003, reigniting a national debate on the death penalty.

“Why are we talking about our grades when we should be talking about whether there’s an innocent man in prison?” said Evan Benn, a former Protess student mentioned in the state’s subpoena.

No students have been subpoenaed.

The prosecutor’s office – led by Anita Alvarez, who last year was elected Cook County state’s attorney on a reputation for toughness – said it was being thorough and wanted to determine whether students might have skewed their findings to get a good grade.