YSU Professor's hiring still under review

Attorneys representing a wrongfully convicted man have criticized the hiring.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Youngstown State University review of its controversial hiring of a forensics professor is continuing and is likely to take about two more weeks.
In scrutinizing the August hiring of Joseph Serowik, YSU President David Sweet and Provost Tony Atwater are consulting a variety of faculty members and administrators, Ron Cole, YSU spokesman, said Tuesday.
Gathering the input is delaying the review, which originally was to be finished by Sept. 10, Cole explained.
Wrongful conviction
Sweet ordered the examination in late August in response to questions raised in the press about why Serowik was hired Aug. 9 to a $48,000-a-year teaching job despite his role in the wrongful conviction of a Cleveland man on a rape charge.
Serowik was a scientific examiner for the Cleveland Police Department crime lab in 1988 when he testified regarding his examination of evidence in the rape trial of Michael Green.
Based partly on Serowik's testimony, Green was convicted of the crime and imprisoned for more than a decade. He was freed in 2001 after DNA evidence proved he was innocent.
Afterward, Green sued Cleveland in federal court, arguing that Serowik's testimony regarding evidence presented in the rape trial was flawed and was discredited by forensics experts consulted as part of the lawsuit.
Cleveland settled the legal action by agreeing to pay Green $1.6 million and to audit other cases Serowik had been involved in as part of his crime lab duties.
Serowik was fired from the Cleveland job this summer.
Attorneys' letter
Last week, YSU was criticized for hiring Serowik in a letter sent by attorneys Barry Scheck of New York City and Alphonse Gerhardstein of Cincinnati. They represented Green in the federal lawsuit.
In a letter to Sweet, Scheck and Gerhardstein called Serowik's hiring by YSU unfathomable.
Referring to testimony gathered in Green's lawsuit, they said Serowik had been "denounced by experts in his field," and that Serowik repeatedly engaged in "gross professional misconduct" in his work as a scientific examiner.
Serowik has told The Vindicator that he disputes the claims made regarding his work and that he believes his performance in Cleveland eventually will be validated.
Atty. Holly Jacobs, YSU's legal counsel, responded to the attorneys in a letter written Tuesday.
Jacobs said that senior YSU officials were unaware of the issues raised about Serowik's Cleveland work at the time he was hired.
The faculty members and administrators involved in screening the 16 applicants for the job and recommending Serowik for the post were aware, however, of the Green case and Serowik's involvement in it, YSU officials have said.
YSU Provost Tony Atwater, who offered Serowik the post based on a recommendation by the criminal justice department, has said the review of Serowik's hiring will include determining why he wasn't given information about the Green case.
Atwater has said he knew nothing about it until after Serowik was hired to a one-year contract.
leigh@vindy.com