Prof. Pam Cytrynbaum (AMST) and her student interns are poring over papers, looking for clues in a murder case. But the suspect was convicted and imprisoned more than a decade ago. He has always maintained his innocence, so Cytrynbaum and her team are buried in court transcripts, police reports and hundreds of other documents, trying to find out if he's been telling the truth."This guy's in prison, and he may be innocent," she said. "We don't have time to mess around."

The convict, whose name could not be released for legal reasons, is finding help in Cytrynbaum, a one-year visiting professor. That's because Cytrynbaum is exploring the possibility of an innocence project within the Brandeis Institute of Investigative Journalism.

Innocence projects examine the claims of convicted criminals and work through the court system to exonerate those whose innocence can be proved through investigation. Cytrynbaum said she expects to submit several proposed models for a permanent innocence project to Provost Marty Krauss by the end of this academic year.

If implemented, the project would add to a growing number of journalism-based innocence projects in the country, following the success of the first project at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Cytrynbaum said journalism-based innocence projects differ from law school-based projects in that they examine a larger scope of evidence-not only legally admissible evidence-and use available documents as a "springboard" to additional independent research.

"Overall, we're [both] looking for truth," Cytrynbaum said. "But...we [both] have different routes that we take."

The first innocence project based out of a journalism school was established at Medill in 1999. Cytrynbaum, who had attended Medill a decade before, co-taught an investigative journalism course with David Protess, who spearheaded the creation of the Medill Innocence Project. Protess' work with students has resulted in the exoneration of five death row inmates, and the project was cited by Illinois governor George Ryan when he placed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2000.

Brandeis' exploratory innocence project got its first case when Goodwin Procter LLP, a Boston law firm that houses the New England Innocence Project, made contact through a Brandeis alumnus. NEIP does not take on cases that don't involve DNA evidence, so it passed the current case on to Cytrynbaum, who said many murder cases do not have such evidence available.

"They were looking for a way to have these cases explored, so our work as journalists fills that niche perfectly," Cytrynbaum said.

Intern Betsy Eichel '07 said working with Cytrynbaum is exciting and has confirmed her desire to be a journalist.

"This is a real person, not just a hypothetical," Eichel said. "It's cool to think that I can do something to help."

Cytrynbaum said the cases of those who are wrongfully convicted often share common patterns and "red flags" such as false confessions, faulty or incomplete forensic work and allegations of police abuse and coercion.

"Students can't believe the justice system is based on so much human failure," she said. "You just want to get to the truth. What you find in so many cases is these folks are living with a lie, and it's eating them up. They want to tell their story."

Institute of Investigative Journalism Director Florence Graves said an innocence project would fit with the University's values concerning social justice and the rights of individuals and society.

"There is a symmetry between this project and the fact that the University is named for [former Supreme Court Chief] Justice [Louis] Brandeis," she said.

Graves said establishing an innocence project is a goal of the Institute because of its focus on issues of political, social and racial injustice.

"I felt this was a great opportunity not only to make a concrete difference in the world, but to give students the opportunity to better appreciate our criminal justice system," Graves said. "I feel that understanding the criminal justice system and the way it works would have a ripple effect on society."

The Brandeis project began with a $75,000 grant from Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, a national organization supporting research and creative projects with the goal of improving the field of journalism.

Cytrynbaum is teaching a course this semester on basic reporting skills in addition to her role as associate director of the Investigative Journalism Institute. Next semester she is teaching a course called "Investigating Justice.