Imagine being put in jail, full-well knowing you were innocent, but because of a lack of information presented during the trial you were wrongly convicted. That is exactly what happened to Donald Watkins.
In 2007, Watkins was convicted of murder and home invasion and sentenced to 56 years in prison. With the help of the journalism and law students at Northwestern University, Watkins received a second chance at justice.
Journalism students took Watkins' case into their own hands and dug up some interesting facts. The students at Medill put their investigative reporting skills to work and discovered that some very important information was missing from the trial. The students took matters into their own hands by re-interviewing key witnesses and reporting on the new found facts. Because of the persistent and probing questions that the students at Northwestern asked, they were able to give Watkins a second chance.
How come it took the work of some journalism and law students to get the courts to rethink their decision that effected a man's freedom?
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