A Scar on the System- The case of Albert Fink
WNIN, Evansville
(NOTE: WNIN coverage of this case and its impact began in August of 2016 with the crash, confession, arrest and initial court appearances by Albert Fink. For the purpose of this entry, our coverage begins with court appearances in 2017. However, in the narrative, we’ve included some information from the beginning for clarity. )
This story begins with a bizarre car crash and a confession.
Like the scar that remains on a tree on State Road 46 following the August 2016 crash, Indiana’s criminal justice system has yet to heal from the damage done by Bloomington, Indiana, psychologist Albert Fink.
When Indiana State Police talked with Fink at the scene that day, he told them the crash was deliberate- that he was trying to commit suicide because he was afraid of testifying in a Vanderburgh County court case the next day.
The 85-year-old Fink had been an active witness in Southwest Indiana courts for many years. WNIN and other media outlets reported on a mistrial prompted by Fink’s confession that he falsified a mental evaluation in the criminal case for which he was to testify. Dr. Fink would eventually plead guilty to a single felony charge of obstructing justice.
For the most part, that is where media coverage of the case of Albert Fink ends. Only WNIN decided to follow Fink’s court case closely and reveal the full impact of a trusted professional’s fall from grace.
While that single, sensational criminal case prompted our inquiry, the impact of our coverage is significant and ongoing. Our coverage of Dr. Fink’s own charges and court appearances culminated in a documentary that dug deep into the impact of his crime on the criminal justice and disability claims systems in Indiana.
Our discovery that over two dozen more evaluations were suspect prompted action at the highest levels of the state’s court system. Discussions are beginning on ways of improving that system after we showed that even though court officials were suspicious, if Albert Fink hadn’t confessed, he might never have been caught.
A tip early in our coverage led us to another, much larger pool of potential victims. Albert Fink also had a Social Security disability claims practice that would have stretched the endurance of a much younger man. Our research turned up 10,567 cases for which Fink provided exams or testing, beginning at age 73.
WNIN informed SSA and state officials shortly after learning of Fink’s crash and mistrial that he was charged with falsifying examinations similar to those he performed for SSA. . A high percentage of the disability claims cases fall within the same time period in which it is suspected Albert Fink falsified criminal case evaluations, which should raise the urgency of their review.
In all phases of this project, we showed not only that there was a problem, but why there was a problem. We went beyond the inherently sensational nature of this story to talk about larger issues and solutions to already existing problems brought to the forefront by Albert Fink’s misdeeds.
WNIN, the community licensee NPR affiliate in Evansville has a staff of just five full-time employees to host programming, operate the FM radio station and produce news reports. Despite the resource challenge, the decision was made to pursue this investigation to ensure public disclosure of the larger ramifications of the Albert Fink case.
NOTE: One interview in the documentary included with this entry was conducted by Side Effects Public Media reporter Jake Harper, under the direction of WNIN reporter/producer Steve Burger. The interview was booked and conducted using data and questions provided by Burger. WNIN staff or WNIN freelance employees researched, reported, produced, wrote, voiced and edited the rest of this coverage.
We hope you enjoy reviewing our work as much as we enjoyed producing it. We ask for your support for the high honor of an Edward R. Murrow award.
Entry Rundown:
:00-1:24 WNIN coverage of the 2017 court appearances and conviction of Albert Fink
1:25-11:07 WNIN follow up report on the crash, confession and impact of Dr. Fink’s crime on the Indiana court system
11:10-23:52 WNIN follow up report on a much larger pool of potential victims for whom Dr. Fink provided exams or testing for Social Security disability claims.