# Medill Innocence Project Frames Innocent Man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480 "2014-11-12T22:47:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/1 "2014-11-12T22:47:46Z")
That’s what [this article](http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/duped-by-innocence-project-milwaukee-man-now-free-b99386015z1-281852841.html) is claiming. In short, that they wanted to get their guy off so they pressured someone else into confessing. Anyone know further info on this? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/2 "2014-11-12T23:16:23Z")
What further info are you looking for? That article was pretty thorough IMO. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/3 "2014-11-12T23:22:56Z")
Important to note that it wasn’t _The_ [Innocence Project](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_Project) that did this. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/4 "2014-11-13T01:37:36Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > That’s what [this article](http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/duped-by-innocence-project-milwaukee-man-now-free-b99386015z1-281852841.html) is claiming. In short, that they wanted to get their guy off so they pressured someone else into confessing. > > Anyone know further info on this? I know that your own article says that it was the _Medill_ Innocence Project that was involved, according to your own link. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/5 "2014-11-13T02:55:09Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What further info are you looking for? That article was pretty thorough IMO. Well there was not much info about Porter. Is he guilty after all? Can he be retried? Has he said anything about Simon’s conviction or release? What has he been up to in the last 15 years as a free man? What do the police/courts have to say in the matter? Can charges be brought against anyone associated with the Innocence Project for framing an innocent man? Lots of questions weren’t asked that should be answered. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/6 "2014-11-13T14:26:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What further info are you looking for? That article was pretty thorough IMO. Whether there’s a counter-story by the Innocence people or their supporters. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Important to note that it wasn’t _The_ [Innocence Project](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_Project) that did this. It is and I missed it. My apologies to all. :smack: If a **moderator** can edit the thread title to say “Medill Innocence Project” I would appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/7 "2014-11-13T17:03:24Z")
Done it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/8 "2014-11-13T17:04:28Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medill-innocence-project-frames-innocent-man/704480/9 "2014-11-13T17:30:59Z")
I’m not sure I agree that the Medill team engaged in tactics that were “unacceptable by law enforcement standards.” The only one of the alleged tactics that police don’t regularly use is providing a lawyer with a potential conflict of interest. But the article doesn’t tell us enough to know whether the lawyer actually had a conflict of interest or not. The lawyer believing Porter was innocent and being friends with the private citizens investigating the crime is probably not enough. Plenty of defense attorneys are buddies with cops and believe their clients are guilty. That doesn’t prove that they did not represent their clients zealously. It’s a red flag, but I would want to hear more. And I’m surprised the prosecutor’s office dropped the charges. I agree with the decision, but I doubt they would normally decide not to prosecute someone who confessed to a murder on videotape just because he and some other witnesses recanted. Hopefully the upshot of this is increasing awareness of the fact that confessions are far less reliable than popularly believed.