The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "jury awards" ...
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Firefighter's Explosion
The Star reinvestigated "the case of five Kansas Citians convicted in 1997 of setting arson fires ten years earlier that sparked an explosion killing six Kansas City firefighters." The Star found that many of the witnesses who testified stood to gain from their claims and that the jurors misunderstood their instructions.
Tags: arson; trial; jury; evidence; testimony; witness; firefighters;
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Delay on DNA Frees Girl's Rapist
A trucker in Florida raped a 13 year old girl, went to trial, and was aquitted because there was no DNA proof. But the DNA test proved he committed the crime five weeks after he was seen as not guilty by a jury. With mounds of evidence against him, Kenneth Robinson was able to avoid jail because the judge's order for a DNA test was not carried through.
Tags: rape; sexual assault; DNA; child abuse; molestation; Kenneth Robinson; Gary Barrett
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A Shot in the Arm
Police arrested Darryl Burton on June 28, 1984, for the shooting death of Donald Ball, a notorious neighborhood gangster. Burton's trial in 1985 lasted two days, and a St. Louis jury found him guilty of capital murder and armed criminal action. Circuit Judge Jack L. Koehr sentenced the 23 year old Burton to life in prison. This story explores the murder conviction and the obstacles Burton has encountered in trying to get the conviction reversed. He was convicted on the strength of two eyewitness accounts. Gay finds that one of the eyewitnesses admitted perjury, and the other has had his character and testimony impugned by the arrival of new testimony.
Tags: Darryl Burton; reversed conviction; Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals; habeas corpus; FOI
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Public payroll series; Harper family murders; Arvin grand jury investigation
The Bakersfield Californian uses open public records to investigate government issues. State employees such as school principals were making twice the state average. Reporters uncovered these statistics using records open to the public. They also found that firefighters were raking in money as part of their overtime commitments. The second set of stories investigates the multiple murders in Bakersfield where the suspect is a elementary school vice principal. Another story covers how the newspaper has defended an unprecedented restraint attempt by the county grand jury.
Tags: FOI; Multiple murders; Harper murders; State payroll; Arvin; Grand jury investigation
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Scandal in Detroit Police Dept.
An exhaustive investigation into a series of scandals involving the Detroit Police Dept. Among the topics: Consistently poor procedures that violate the basic rights of those arrested, federal grand jury indictments against 17 officers for criminal activity, and much more.
Tags: uniform; law enforcement; corruption; shootings
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Shell game
An exhaustive investigation into the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion Project, a state-backed project that destroyed oyster crops by dumping fresh water in commercial oyster marshes, and the lawsuit that followed. Most oyster marshes make only $25,000 in the very best of years. However, after the marshes were destroyed by the Project, a jury decided that $1.3 billion should be awarded as compensation for about 160 farmers who lost their marshes.
Tags: Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion Project; oyster leases; lawsuit; state government
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A Changing Landscape; Learning Curve; Painful Decisions; Public Discontent
An ABA four-story package examines the new developments in tort law, and how they have influenced the work of civil justice institutions. The first story looks at the battles over tort legislation, and describes how different states have implemented the changes. The report quotes a 1993 study by the Coalition for Consumer Rights, which has indicated that states with the lowest per capita expenditures on medical care are more likely to have enacted the fewest tort reforms overall. The second story reveals that lawyers are changing their litigation strategies in response to the new tort law. The third story reports on the risks that await both plaintiff and defense lawyers. The fourth story features lawyers' opinions expressed during a round table debate on tort law. "The debate goes beyond tort law, it's about lawyers," the magazine finds.
Tags: American Tort Reform Association; lobbying; lobbyists; product liability; medical malpractice; punitive damages; juries; jury awards; civil justice; courts; lawyers
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Getting hard to shock
In an attempt to determine post-verdict trends, the National Law Journal investigates "100 cases from 1997 involving jury awards of $1 million or more, including all the largest verdicts of that year" and tracks down the after-verdict action. The special report consists of 66 case stories that tell "what happened ... after jury went home." The other 34 stories can be found on the journal's website. The package reveals that most often the first verdict is erased in the further appellate process, and the plaintiffs end up with comparatively meager settlement amounts.
Tags: judges; jurors; settlement; fraud; litigation; lawyers; verdict; award
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Sweet $233 million win goes sour
This National Law Journal story focuses on the difficulties that lawyers may experience in collecting money awarded by court verdicts. The reporter describes the case of a New York businessman who was awarded $233 million by a Dallas jury, but his lawyers faced a long battle to collect the money. The investigation sheds light on the securities fraud conducted by the defendants, and follows the steps they have undertaken to avoid paying the award to the plaintiffs.
Tags: Continental Investment Corp.; R. Dale Sterritt Jr.; courts; judges; fraud; securities; corruption; mob
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Tort Reform: Are damage awards outrageous or justified?
The Gazette examines every civil jury verdict reached in West Virginia's busiest court district for the last five years. The advocates maintain that "runaway juries" and "jackpot justice" create outrageous damage awards.
Tags: caseload; tort reform; court records