In the civil action lawsuit filed by Cornell Professor Stephen L. Morgan against Wesleyan, both parties have begun to take depositions conerning the release of Dr. Morgan’s photograph, which mistakenly identified him as the alleged killer of Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10 in May 2009. Numerous news websites and television stations featured the photo after it was published on the University website and e-mailed to students, parents, and faculty in the wake of Justin-Jinich’s murder.
In an unexpected turn of events, on Sept. 16 Wesleyan filed a notice of deposition of New York University (NYU) Director of Public Safety Patrick Wing, who is believed to have information and documents related to communications between the Middletown Police Department and NYU that may be relevant to the case. According to the Motion for Commission of Deposition, Wing’s deposition is planned for Oct. 10.
NYU Public Safety’s involvement in Justin-Jinich’s case dates back to 2007, when she and her alleged killer, Stephen P. Morgan, attended a six-week summer program together at NYU. Toward the end of the program, NYU Public Safety received a harassment complaint from Justin-Jinich, who claimed to have received troubling e-mails and phone calls from Morgan. She declined to pursue the case after initial conversations.
The University has requested that Wing produce any and all documents concerning Justin-Jinich’s murder on May 6, 2009, the photograph of Stephen P. Morgan, the police investigation of the identity of the murderer, and the police manhunt for the murderer.
At this point in time, the role Wing may have played in the case is unclear. Wing did not respond to multiple messages left by The Argus.
James K. Robertson, Dr. Morgan’s attorney, has already taken testimonies of Wesleyan officials involved in the case.
“We are in the discovery phase of the case at this time,” Robertson wrote in an e-mail to The Argus. “I have taken the depositions of several Wesleyan employees, including [Director of Media Relations] David Pesci, [Director of Public Safety] David Meyer, and [President] Michael Roth. Wesleyan has taken the deposition of Dr. Stephen Morgan. My client is looking forward to the trial.”
Roth and Meyer both declined to comment on the case.
Dr. Morgan originally filed a suit against the University on Nov. 24, with an amended suit filed on Jan. 5. His amended suit claimed three counts of defamation per se, two counts of false light invasion of privacy, and one count of negligent infliction of emotional distress. The University’s answer, filed on Jan. 20, includes five special defenses, stating that the University published the photo within a limited scope and in the interest of protecting the safety of the Wesleyan community.
The University released Dr. Morgan’s photograph shortly after Justin-Jinich’s murder on May 6, 2009, alongside a photograph of Stephen P. Morgan, who is now on trial for the murder. The surveillance photograph of Stephen P. Morgan was taken from Red & Black Café, where Justin-Jinich was working when she was shot to death.
Morgan’s lawsuit stated that, “[a] simple Internet search would have revealed that the Stephen Morgan in the photograph could not have been the suspect . . . As a result of the defendant’s actions, national and international media outlets republished the name and photograph of the plaintiff indicating that the man in the photograph was suspect in the ongoing murder investigation.”
In the University’s response to the lawsuit, they admitted to directing inquiring callers to the Wesleyan website, where the photograph had been posted.
David Winakor, the University’s legal counsel, declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
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