Innocence Institute Led by Veteran Pittsburgh Reporter

By: Charles Geraci Though there are now dozens of so-called innocence projects in the United States, aimed at proving that some prison inmates were wrongfully convicted, a Pittsburgh-based organization is the only one exclusively affiliated with a journalism school. Most of the others work mainly with law schools. The Innocence Institute of Western Pennsylvania has another distinction: It is the only one led by an award-winning investigative reporter at a major newspaper who helps make sure the project's work makes print.

For the past 28 years, Bill Moushey has written investigative reports, highlighting serious abuses within the criminal justice system. He currently teaches journalism at Point Park University, reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Click for QuikCap), and directs the institute.

"It is with great difficulty that I manage these roles," Moushey, 50, tells E&P. In 1997, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for a groundbreaking expose on the witness protection program.

Moushey cites two goals for the Innocence Institute. "We are about teaching good journalism through real-world investigative stories," he said. "We also shed light on the failures of the criminal justice system, possibly liberating those who were wrongfully convicted." Moushey and about 10 students respond to letters about possible miscarriages of justice by sending out questionnaires. If a claim warrants further attention, they then read trial transcripts and other records before seeking out witnesses.

On a tight budget, they limit their work to a 100-mile radius of Pittsburgh.

After researching cases of potential misconduct or wrongful conviction, Moushey and his students submit stories to the Post-Gazette. The paper, which has employed Moushey for nearly 20 years, has the first option to publish them -- and, he says, it has run every story the organization has submitted.

"I can't believe how I've lucked out," says Nathan Crabbe, a graduate assistant in journalism, who just wrote his second story for the institute. "Before I came here, I was investigating vineyard bugs in Napa Valley, California."

Founded in 2001, the institute has succeeded in reopening the cases of five inmates who may have been wrongfully convicted. In its latest case, the key witness in the trial of 27-year-old Hosea Davis has admitted in an audio tape and a letter that she lied about witnessing the crime, contrary to her testimony. The Allegheny Superior Court granted Davis a new trial, which prosecutors have appealed. The institute's article on the case appeared in the Post-Gazette on April 4, carrying the byline of Bill Moushey and Nathan Crabbe.

Crabbe declined to give his reaction to the case. "We do not give value judgments in the cases we work on," he said. "It is our job to state the facts and let our readers decide what is appropriate."