Guilty until proven innocent

The Medill Innocence Project proves that investigative journalism is more than just trench coats and notepads

By Ivana Dukanovic

Maddie Boardman, a cherub from Seattle, sat in a black leather McCormick Tribune chair, clutching her pillow as she, and other cherubs, watched seven-year-old Jaclyn Dowaliby kidnapped in the movie, “Gone in the Night.”  

“The movie was almost surreal,” Boardman said.  “At certain points it seemed fictional because that particular case isn’t something we see every day.”

“Gone in the Night” depicts the story of Cynthia and David Dowaliby, who awoke one morning to find their daughter missing from their suburban home.  The movie is based on a case that Northwestern University Professor David Protess uncovered in the 1990s.  Protess worked with Cynthia Dowaliby when her husband was convicted of murdering their daughter, and the professor and his students ultimately freed the father.  Jaclyn’s disturbed uncle was later imprisoned for the crime.

Boardman jumped out of her seat as she watched Protess exonerate Dowaliby on the screen, but did a double-take when Protess and his son, Ben, walked into room 307 in Fisk for a special workshop on investigative journalism.

“It was hard separating the movie character from the real David Protess, especially when he’s two feet away from you,” Boardman said.
 
Protess, known for releasing innocent people from prision, was within arms reach.  The workshop was an introduction to the Medill Innocence Project and allowed the cherubs to have a first-hand experience with investigative journalism.  Protess split the cherubs into groups, and gave each group a letter criminal claiming innocence.

Boardman looked through the folder Protess handed her, containing five letters from a Robert D. Jarret, a potentially innocent criminal, who wrote over 17 years.  Boardman confirmed her belief he was innocent after reading he had three daughters and had failed a DNA test for his crime. 

“I really wanted to write a letter letting him know that we were here to help,” Boardman said.  “It sparked an investigative interest in me.”

Boardman’s remained enthusiastic.  Along with her other group members, she sent Jarret a letter including a questionnaire to determine whether Protess should take on the case for his Investigative Journalism class at Medill in the fall.

Though only seniors at Medill can apply for the class, Protess gave cherubs an experience with real cases, real people, and an introduction to a possible future profession.

Cherub instructor Jesse Abrams-Morley took Investigative Journalism both fall and winter quarter his senior year at Medill.

“You would have to be very, very stupid to turn down an opportunity to learn from someone as accomplished and intelligent as David Protess,” Abrams-Morley said.

Abrams-Morley worked with four other students and a private investigator on a quadruple-homicide in Gary, Ind.  Abrams-Morley and his colleagues chose to go to the location of the crime, a crack house, since it happened only a year earlier.

As they knocked on the door, Abrams-Morley looked at the private investigator. 

“He had his hand on his hip, keeping his gun close,” Abrams-Morley said.  “At that moment I realized this is pretty serious, and I had no idea who was behind that door.” 

The class is more thrilling and detail-oriented than it is nerve-wracking, Abrams-Morley said. 

Protess’s workshop only gave the cherubs a hint of what is in store for an investigative journalist. 

“Cherubs aren’t here to get an A, or a check on their résumé, they’re here to learn,” Abrams-Morley said.

Eryn Rogers, a cherub from Atlanta, also wrote a letter to a potentially innocent criminal at Protess’s workshop. 

“Someone’s life is in your hands,” Rogers said.  “It’s not fictional like 'Law and Order' -- it’s so much more than that.  It’s life-changing.”