Must tips called in to Crime Stoppers organizations be kept confidential? That's the issue in a high-profile North Carolina case. The Raleigh News & Observer says attorneys for the two men accused of killing and kidnapping University of North Carolina student body president Eve Carson want to know who called police with what were supposed to be anonymous tips.
The newspaper says the request could undermine one of law enforcement's most effective investigative tools. The lawyers for Demario Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr. argue that they need to review the Crime Stoppers information to see if there are other suspects that police may have neglected. Prosecutor Jim Woodall asked a judge to keep the information out of the lawyers' hands, saying that could create a precedent that would jeopardize how police receive information in hard-to-solve crimes. The judge will review 300 pages of tips and will hold another hearing Jan. 8.
