Forsyth County DA Tom Keith says he’s done with Duke University’s Innocence Project, which has been probing into the Jill Marker case:
Keith said he will continue to review the beating of Jill Marker in the Silk Plant Forest store, but he said he is not eager to continue working with the group at Duke Law School, which says it has uncovered new evidence in the case.
…..Keith said Friday that he was stung by criticisms from Jim Coleman, a Duke law professor and adviser to the innocence project, who twice in recent months has compared actions by Keith’s office to those of disgraced former District Attorney Mike Nifong of Durham.
“It’s unfortunate that an institution esteemed as Duke University would allow one of their professors to make public comments like that,” Keith said. “Every time I pick up the newspaper, he’s sticking it to me. That doesn’t make me want to go down and walk down the path and hold his hand….”
What’s interesting is the fact that Coleman uses the Marker case as an example when teaching his wrongful convictions class at Duke. Is that appropriate, considering the fact that it hasn’t been established that there was indeed a wrongful conviction?
