CHICAGO - Prosecutors claimed in court yesterday that Northwestern University journalism students paid two witnesses in order to make their case that an innocent man was wrongly convicted of murder.
The allegations came in filings during a Cook County criminal court hearing for Anthony McKinney, who is serving a life sentence for the 1978 murder of a security guard.
Students have presented evidence, including interviews with witnesses, suggesting that several other men committed the crime. But prosecutors are questioning the credibility of their witnesses, including two who say the students and a
The Northwestern students, and their professor David Protess, denied the allegations yesterday, calling the state’s court filing part of a “smear campaign.’’
Prosecutors said in their filing that several witnesses interviewed by the students recanted their statements when speaking to prosecutors, saying that they’d told the students what they wanted to hear so that they would be paid.
One witness, Tony Drakes, said the Northwestern investigator gave a cab driver $60 to drive him a short distance and told the driver to give Drakes $40 in change. Drakes said he used the money to buy crack cocaine.
Northwestern student Evan Benn, who is named in the state’s subpoena, said it was he, not the investigator, who gave the cab driver the money, along with instructions that none of it was to be given to Drakes.
“We never paid Tony Drakes for his statement, we would never pay any source,’’ Benn said. He has said he paid $60 for the cab ride because the driver estimated it would cost about $50.
