Deconstructing the DNA of a Denver Post Pulitzer Finalist

Differences of opinion provide the subtext for the district attorney's objections as well. When asked if he has a good relationship with Moffeit, Morrissey grumbles that the reporter once interrupted him when he was listening to crime victims testify before a House committee. Moffeit, who says this incident followed an article he co-wrote with Post staffer Kevin Simpson that the DA found problematic, recalls Morrissey "turning to me, red-faced, and saying, 'I'm not ever going to talk to you again.'" Lucky thing, then, that Greene, who took the lead on the Moses-EL segment, conducted the interview for "Truth." Nevertheless, Morrissey wound up unhappy about Greene's efforts, too — especially the assertion that the destruction of evidence collected back in 1995, before Morrissey was in charge, "violated a court order." Not so, he says. "We wrote the order, and Ms. Greene knew that," he allows. After the evidence was collected, he goes on, DA's office personnel informed Moses-EL's defense attorney, who didn't immediately pick it up, resulting in it being tossed a month later. In his view, these events prove that DA reps followed the court order, while in Greene's analysis, the decision to throw away the box, which was marked "Do Not Destroy," represents the ultimate violation.

In addition, Morrissey objected to two lines about LC Jackson, who was either a possible witness to the rape for which Moses-EL was imprisoned or the potential perpetrator; Jackson was later linked to another rape, and DNA led to his conviction. The Post story stated that "Denver police never questioned" Jackson and two other men, and one of Jackson's later rape victims speculated that her attack might have been prevented if police had quizzed him during the Moses-EL investigation. But Morrissey contends that both Jackson and one of the other men, Darnell Jackson, were, in fact, interviewed, and the former testified at trial.

Greene counters that the context of the article makes it clear that Jackson wasn't seen as a suspect, which Morrissey concedes — and managing editor Clark made the same point in his August 29 letter. "We could have been more clear by saying LC Jackson was never questioned AS A SUSPECT," he wrote, "but we think readers understood what we were saying."

None of that explains why the Post took more than a month to come to this decision. "It was certainly unusual," Morrissey says. "If we have something we're asking them to correct, I'll often get an immediate response." Instead, days dragged into weeks, and only an August 13 letter from Morrissey to Moore finally broke the logjam. According to Moore, the delay came about because of the thoroughness with which the Post looked into the subjects, but there was another factor, too: Greene had accumulated a lot of overtime and took six weeks of vacation, much of it out of town.

Moore guffaws at the notion that the Post declined to correct anything on the opus because the paper didn't want to stain its Pulitzer chances. Still, the politicking and spin that's attended the quest for the Prize threatens to obscure the series' achievement. Somewhere between the bickering about attribution and accuracy lies the "Truth."