Jan. 25 CALIFORNIA: Misconduct by professor found Stephen Schoenthaler, the professor who oversaw a tainted survey that factored into the Scott Peterson double-murder trial being moved to San Mateo County, committed academic and scientific misconduct, an investigation committee has concluded. The committee has recommended that he be suspended for a semester without pay, demoted to associate professor from full professor at California State University, Stanislaus, and placed on probation for 3 years. The university released the results of its yearlong investigation Monday in response to a Modesto Bee request for the document under the California Public Records Act. The report was dated Oct. 13, 2004. The 3-member investigation committee, made up of 2 professors from Stanislaus State and a third from CSU, Sacramento, also found that Schoenthaler: Violated a university policy that requires research proposals that use people to be submitted to an Institutional Review Board for approval. The process is in place to protect people involved in the research. Failed to exercise appropriate professional judgment in designing and conducting the survey, and he "seriously deviated from the professional standards and accepted practices of the relevant research community." Had good reason to believe that some data were fabricated before testifying at the change-of-venue hearing for Peterson. Schoenthaler vouched for the validity of the research at the hearing. "Schoenthaler's failure to withdraw the research results - was reckless and seriously deviated from commonly accepted practices," the report states. His failure to disclose data limitations is "extremely serious," the report continues, "particularly given his intention that these data be used in a highly publicized capital murder trial." Schoenthaler, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at Stanislaus State since 1982, remains on paid administrative leave. Meanwhile, university administrators have reviewed the final investigation report and are considering what to do next. "Just what administration action we will take has yet to be determined," said Provost David Dauwalder. He added that the report on Schoenthaler's role in the matter is "not binding in terms of potential personnel actions that the university may take." He said he expects the university to take action soon. "However," he added, "it's important to remember that personnel matters are governed by the collective-bargaining agreement - so the university won't be able to reveal what happened for some time due to various potential appeals processes." Schoenthaler declined comment, according to a woman who answered the phone at his residence. "He's not interested in speaking with anybody. Thank you," she said. Schoenthaler's attorney could not be reached for comment. A request for Schoenthaler's payroll records also was granted Monday. His annual pay is $83,808. He's been on paid leave since spring of 2004. He has not taught since being placed on leave. During the first part of his leave, he performed unspecified duties outside the classroom. By the fall term, he was on leave without duties. Several students told The Bee in December 2003 that they fabricated results for the survey, which Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami used in part in deciding to move the Peterson trial to San Mateo County. The students claimed they used bogus responses because of deadline pressure to complete the survey, on which they received a grade. Ultimately, 31 of the 58 students were cleared, and 26 were charged and disciplined. One case is unresolved. Also among the investigation committee's findings: Schoenthaler had a long-standing pattern of conducting research using human subjects without review board approval. According to university policy, this type of research must be submitted to the review board and approved before the project begins. The same requirements were in place in 1995 when Schoenthaler oversaw a change-of-venue survey for another high-profile capital murder case, that of Richard Allen Davis, convicted of murdering 12-year-old Polly Klaas. In 14 years, Schoenthaler has overseen 31 change-of-venue surveys, using student surveyors for the three highest-profile cases. The 3rd involved San Joaquin County serial killer Louis Peoples. Department chairman Paul O'Brien instructed Schoenthaler to stop the survey because it had not been submitted to the review board. Committee members concluded that there is no clear authority for a department chairman to order a faculty member to cease specific research. But, they added, "We believe that faculty have a responsibility to take due cognizance of instructions given to them by department chairs with respect to university policies and procedures." In November, Peterson was found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the death of his wife, Laci, and 2nd-degree murder in the death of their unborn son Conner. A month later, that jury came back with the death penalty. A formal sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 25. -- PROFESSOR'S POTENTIAL PUNISHMENT Stephen Schoenthaler could face these and other sanctions from Stanislaus State as a result of producing a fraudulent survey in connection with the Scott Peterson murder case: One semester unpaid suspension. A reduction in rank and salary. All research with undergraduates must be supervised. Prohibited for 3 years from serving as chairman of any graduate thesis committee or the universitys Retention, Promotion and Tenure Committee. (source: Modesto Bee) ILLINOIS: Attorneys argue in Illinois murder case Attorneys in the retrial of an Illinois woman accused in the 1997 slaying of her son want jurors to know a Texas death row inmate claims he did it. But prosecutors in Lawrenceville, Illinois, will try to keep the information out of the trial -- on grounds that it's unreliable hearsay. Julie Rea Harper was convicted in 2002 of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of her ten-year-old son, Joel Kirkpatrick, in their home. Prosecutors say she attacked the boy to get back at her former husband, who'd just won custody. Harper blames a masked intruder for the attack. She was granted a 2nd trial on an unrelated technicality and is free on bond. A hearing on whether jurors will be able to hear the statements of serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells is scheduled for February 23rd. Sells was condemned for a 1999 slaying in Del Rio. The victim was 13-year-old Kaylene Harris. (source: Associated Press) USA: For the Wrongly Convicted, New Trials Once the Cell Opens This month marks one year since Nick Yarris was released from prison after having spent 23 years behind bars, many of them in solitary confinement and on death row, for a murder he did not commit. DNA testing proved his innocence. Upon his release, he was given no money, no housing, no training, no therapy. And no apology. But he is not an angry or bitter man. In fact, Mr. Yarris, 43, is remarkably composed and articulate in discussing his fate and that of others who have been released after wrongful conviction. They are featured in a new documentary, "After Innocence," at the Sundance Film Festival, where viewers leaped to their feet, many in tears, at the end of the first screening on Saturday. "What were my choices?" he said after seeing the film for the first time, when asked how he could seem so sane. "I could, A) be really devastated and angry and let them continue to own me, or B) I could have fun. B sounds better." He continued: "I realized at some point that everyone in my family was waiting for me, hoping for me. The lowest insult would be if I came out destroyed, a broken man, bitter and angry. And it was survival. My survival technique was to become a good man." For all his eloquence, Mr. Yarris is far from on solid ground. He still has no job, no permanent home and no money. Still, he is in much better condition emotionally than many of the other exonerees featured in the film, all of whom were released, often after years of struggling to get DNA testing in their cases, with no amends by the state. (More than a dozen states have passed laws providing compensation for convicts who are later exonerated, though most of the men in the film, including Mr. Yarris, who is from Pennsylvania, are from states that have none.) Jessica Sanders, the film's director as well as its co-producer and screenwriter, met 30 exonerees at a conference in 2002. "I was so moved by the stories of these men, and shocked that nothing was being done for them," she said. "I knew that a film had to be made." Showtime developed the project, though the producers are also seeking a theatrical distributor. Ms. Sanders was introduced to the men through the film's co-producer and writer, Marc Simon, who as a law student volunteered at the Innocence Project, a nonprofit group run by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld that focuses on freeing the innocent, frequently through DNA testing. While that effort continues - the group has helped free more than 150 wrongfully convicted inmates in the last 13 years - there has been little attention to what happens to the men after their release. Some depend on welfare and on their already burdened families. "Without their families, these guys would be homeless," Mr. Simon said. Wilton Dedge, a soft-spoken, blond-haired man, was released 5 months ago after serving 22 years in prison in Florida for sexual battery and burglary. In 2001, DNA tests of a hair, a central piece of material evidence in his conviction, proved it was not his, but the prosecution continued to fight to keep him in jail. More advanced DNA testing of semen won his release last year. "If the state had their way, I'd still be in jail," Mr. Dedge said quietly, nursing a beer at the post-screening lunch. "They don't want to admit they messed up." Mr. Dedge learned welding in prison and since his release has found some part-time work for a tree service. "All I got was a basic form letter apologizing for what happened, not admitting they did anything wrong," he said. "But it seemed pretty hollow, after all the names they called me in court. They weren't man enough to step forward and apologize to my face. That disappointed me." Last October, Mr. Yarris traveled to London to address the British Parliament about the death penalty and his proposal for an economic embargo against Pennsylvania. While there, he met Karen Karbritz, 30. They plan to be married in May, and he hopes to start a new life with her in England. "I'm going to go, to try my best to have the things I wanted," he said, adding, "I was waiting, hoping for a chance just to live. Now the greatest respect I can have for her for trusting me is by loving her, and to thank her just for holding me." (source: New York Times)
