Badgers maul Coyotes
New Fall TELEVISION:
From comedies to cop thrillers, this season’s TV lineup is sure to please. +ARTS, page 4
To no one’s surprise, Wisconsin football dominated South Dakota last Saturday and prepares for a worthy adversary, Nebraska, this weekend. + SPORTS, page 8
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Wrongly convicted man recalls help from Wis. Innocence Project By Christina Spiewak The Daily Cardinal
Mark Kauzlarich/the daily cardinal
After 12 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Chris Ochoa became a lawyer after attending UW-Madison law school.
Student government talks closed meetings By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
Student government leaders heard new legislation that would eliminate the requirement for the Student Judiciary to record closed sessions Sunday. Although the council typically meets Wednesday, they held a special session to catch up on agenda items it did not have time to address at the last two meetings. Student Judiciary Chief Justice Kathryn Fifield said recording closed sessions could inhibit justices from expressing their true opinions on cases brought to the SJ. “Closed sessions have a purpose in governments, and that is to facilitate frank discussion,
candid discussion that produces the best results possible in terms of making decisions,” Fifield said. Fifield also said she feared if the sessions were recorded, students could try to get justices impeached if they do not agree with opinions expressed in closed session. Also at the meeting, the council passed legislation allowing students access to e-mails sent between committees of student council on the listserv. Associated Students of Madison Rep. Tom Templeton, who introduced the legislation, said students had access to information sent in the e-mails in the past, but the
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After police grabbed his forearm, indicating where he would receive a lethal injection if he did not cooperate, Chris Ochoa said he was ready to admit to anything—even if it meant spending life in prison for a murder he did not commit. Ochoa went to prison in Austin, Texas, in 1988. It took 12 years and help from a UW-Madison Law School program to reverse the wrongful conviction. The program, the Wisconsin Innocence Project, recently received approximately $1 million in grant money, allowing it to continue to help wrongfully convicted inmates like Ochoa. Ochoa would later graduate
from Wisconsin’s law school and lend his experience to the program. But despite these successes, his road to freedom was not easy.
“[They] said ‘If you know something, and you don’t tell us, we’ll charge you with capital murder.’” Chris Ochoa freed by wis. innocence project
Weeks before Ochoa’s arrest, a Pizza Hut waitress was raped and murdered. So when Ochoa, then a 19-year-old honors student, entered the restaurant with his intoxicated roommate, employees immediately went on the alert.
Their suspicion increased when Ochoa’s roommate asked questions about the murder, leading them to report Ochoa and his roommate to the police. Ochoa remembered the interrogation clearly: “A Hispanic detective walked in. He slammed his fist on the table and looked at me. He said, ‘They call me the boogeyman.’ He was the bad cop.” While there was also a “good cop,” Ochoa said neither were on his side. “[They] said ‘if you know something [about the murder], and you don’t tell us, we can charge you with capital murder and you’ll get the death penalty,’” he said. According to Ochoa, after denying him an attorney, the detectives
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Men versus Pizza
Jared Burris/the daily cardinal
Contestants in the Ian’s Pizza eating contest chowed down on Library Mall Friday afternoon. The winner took home a free semester of Ian’s Pizza and an XBOX 360 console.
Shootings and violence at Park Street bar may cost venue its license By Taylor Harvey The Daily Cardinal
R Place on Park was temporarily shut down after three people were injured in a shooting outside the Park Street bar Friday. Due to a series of similar incidents involving weapons and violence outside R Place over the past months, city officials are currently consider-
ing revoking the license of its owner Roderick Flowers. In the most recent incident, police said three men were ambushed while leaving R Place at 2:20 a.m. Friday morning. Two of them sustained gunshot wounds while one other man was injured by broken glass. “The preliminary investigation suggests this was a targeted
attack,” Madison Police Department Spokesperson Joel DeSpain said in a statement. “Witnesses report hearing multiple gunshots.” Flowers told the Capital Times Friday’s shooting was “sad and unfortunate” but assured there was no connection between the incident and the R Place establishment. “I think the license should be
revoked,” Ald. Sue Ellingson, District 13, said. “I think Flowers wanted to do the right thing, but he didn’t have a good business plan in place to keep the right kind of customers coming to his bar.” According to MPD Captain Joe Balles, the MPD’s SWAT team executed a search warrant at an apartment in the 1800 block of South Park Street
to search for items and articles related to the Friday morning shooting. No suspects are in custody at this time, according to police. A hearing is scheduled to take place Tuesday regarding the future of the bar. Madison’s Alcohol License Review Committee could recommend revocation of the bar’s liquor license to Common Council Wednesday.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”