Wesleyan sued over shooting suspect photo

United Press International - December 2, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn., Dec 2, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Cornell University professor contends his reputation was damaged when his photo mistakenly was released in connection with a U.S. homicide case.

Stephen Morgan, 38,of Ithica, N.Y., filed suit against Wesleyan University over the release of a driver's license image supplied to them by police in connection with the May shooting death of a student near the Wesleyan campus book store.

Morgan was dropped as a suspect, but police later charged a different Stephen Morgan in the case.

The Hartford (Conn.) Courant said Wednesday that police searching a driver's license database found the professor's photo from his days as a student at Harvard. They sent the image to Wesleyan to see if he looked like anyone currently connected to the college.

Morgan's lawsuit contends school officials circulated the image, which wound up on media outlets, including CNN, along with a report about a fugitive gunman who "police believe may be targeting the school and Jews."

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