by TChris

When the police publicly identify someone as a suspect in a notorious crime, the injury done to that person’s reputation may be irreparable. Just ask Richard Jewel.

James Van de Velde is doing his best to restore his reputation after the New Haven Police Department identified him as one of 5 to 10 suspects in the stabbing murder of one of his students at Yale in 1998. No other suspect was named. He passed a lie detector test in 2000 and in 2001 the state’s attorney for New Haven announced that DNA from skin found under the victim’s fingernails did not match that of Van de Velde. Still, the police have not made a public statement that Van de Velde is no longer a suspect.

Van de Velde has turned to the courts for help in his quest to restore his reputation. He recently settled a libel suit against Quinnipiac University arising out of its false claim that he had been fired from two television internships, and has a lawsuit pending against The Hartford Courant. Also pending is a lawsuit seeking damages from the New Haven Police Chief, four detectives, and Yale University officials for causing him to be publicly branded as a suspect in the murder.

But Mr. Van de Velde wants something money cannot buy: his good name. His lawyer said Tuesday that although the lawsuits can "hold people accountable for what they've done to Jim, he isn't sure the Police Department will ever recant its statement implicating him."

"I hope someday the New Haven Police Department will have the integrity to admit it wronged James Van de Velde," he said. "I have real doubts whether that is going to happen."

Restoring a reputation after the police recklessly identify someone as a murder suspect is as difficult as putting the toothpaste back in the tube. Whatever redress he wins in court will be well deserved, but the damage will probably never be undone.