Nemesis
02-15-2005, 03:07 PM
Associated Press
Feb. 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - A Northwestern University law professor who has guided successful appeals in high-profile murder convictions said he is leaving the school for a new position at Stanford University.
Lawrence Marshall helped found Northwestern's Center on Wrongful Convictions, which influenced former Gov. George Ryan's decision to empty the state's death row two years ago. He will take over Stanford's clinical law program in September. Under the Stanford program, law students work on active cases for free.
Marshall, 46, said Wednesday he wants to "be part of a national program that rethinks the way law schools educate students."
Among other cases, Marshall oversaw the appeal of Rolando Cruz, who was sentenced to death for the 1983 rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. Cruz was acquitted in 1995 after a police officer changed his story about an incriminating statement Cruz supposedly made. DNA evidence later showed another man might have committed the crime.
Ryan pardoned four condemned prisoners and reduced the death sentences of 167 others to life in prison before he left office in 2003. He cited as influences Marshall and Northwestern journalism professor David Protess, whose classes also worked on questionable death row cases.
Northwestern officials said the school remains committed to its wrongful conviction program.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press Lexis One (http://www.lexisone.com/newattorneys/articles/ap020005i.html)
Feb. 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - A Northwestern University law professor who has guided successful appeals in high-profile murder convictions said he is leaving the school for a new position at Stanford University.
Lawrence Marshall helped found Northwestern's Center on Wrongful Convictions, which influenced former Gov. George Ryan's decision to empty the state's death row two years ago. He will take over Stanford's clinical law program in September. Under the Stanford program, law students work on active cases for free.
Marshall, 46, said Wednesday he wants to "be part of a national program that rethinks the way law schools educate students."
Among other cases, Marshall oversaw the appeal of Rolando Cruz, who was sentenced to death for the 1983 rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. Cruz was acquitted in 1995 after a police officer changed his story about an incriminating statement Cruz supposedly made. DNA evidence later showed another man might have committed the crime.
Ryan pardoned four condemned prisoners and reduced the death sentences of 167 others to life in prison before he left office in 2003. He cited as influences Marshall and Northwestern journalism professor David Protess, whose classes also worked on questionable death row cases.
Northwestern officials said the school remains committed to its wrongful conviction program.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press Lexis One (http://www.lexisone.com/newattorneys/articles/ap020005i.html)