California Innocence Project lawyer 'had sex with convicted murderer and offered him millions in exchange for testimony that got killer freed'

A California Innocence Project lawyer is accused of offering a convicted murderer millions of dollars in exchange for testimony that freed another convicted killer.

Paige Kaneb, the legal director of the Northern California Innocence Project, allegedly conspired with civil attorney Terry Gross to convince Marritte Funches to testify and incriminate himself as they worked to overturn the murder conviction of Maurice Caldwell.

Kaneb and Gross even promised Funches half of any funds Caldwell won in a 2021 civil lawsuit against the city of San Francisco if he claimed he killed Judy Acosta in 1990 - and Caldwell was innocent, according to a complaint obtained by The San Francisco Standard. 

The alleged deal was then discussed in taped conversations between Caldwell and Funches in 2023, as Funches had sexual relations with Kaneb. 

He now claims that even though Gross had reached an $8million settlement with the city for fabrication of evidence, he never received any funds - and filed a complaint against the two lawyers instead.

He alleges in the complaint filed with the State Bar of California that Gross and Kaneb visited him at  the Sterling, Colorado prison - where he was serving a life imprisonment for a 1990 murder in Las Vegas - in 2015.

The lawyers then asked him to testify to his guilt in Acosta's death - and to deny his relationship with Kaneb, Funches claims.

According to his complaint, Funches initially balked at the request, but Kaneb told him if he did not help them, she could lose her law license as the city was 'accusing her of inappropriate behavior' with him.

Funches said he then agreed to cooperate - only if he received half of the money Caldwell won and receives his own legal help.

The lawyers apparently agreed, according to the complaint. 

Text messages obtained by The Standard show Caldwell also agreed to the terms.

He at first told Funches that he never offered him anything in exchange for his testimony.

'My lawyers... never said nothing' about a deal, Caldwell wrote in one text.

But when Funches hit back, writing, 'We made a f***ing deal,' Caldwell replied that his attorneys made the promise without his knowledge and he was informed after the fact.

'Terry and them did some snake s***and involved Paige in that s***,' he wrote.

By February 2024, Caldwell also seemed to have agreed to pay for Funches' attorney.

'I will provide the full $ funds for full legal representation,' he told Funches, adding that he would leave it up to Kaneb to handle the details.

In another text, Caldwell said he spoke with Gross 'and he was willing to legally support in assisting us.'

He said he also spoke to the civil attorney 'as well about me handling the full legal financial representation of your case.'

Caldwell never wound up providing Funches with money or legal aid, however, and maintains his innocence in the Acosta murder. 

The two attorneys have also denied any wrongdoing, with Gross telling The Standard in June that Funches' claims are 'patently unbelievable, are plainly false and which I categorically deny.'

He argued that no one would have any reason to pay for Funches' cooperation because he repeatedly declared his guilt in the Acosta murder - and Caldwell's innocence.

Kaneb has also proclaimed her innocence - instead accusing Funches of trying to extort $2million from her by threatening to go to the press about their relationship.

'I recorded every phone call, kept every text. And copies of every video. You can try to clean it up. But you'll never practice law again. Your career is done,' he reportedly wrote in an email to Kaneb obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.

He would later make good on his threat and released what he said was their correspondence to the Standard.

Funches said at the time that he helped Kaneb find new witnesses for Caldwell's 2010 retrial, but that he broke off their relationship when she broke a promise not to reveal their names publicly.

The two then got back in touch in March of last year and the pair allegedly exchanged nearly 9,000 messages over the course of a year.

In one Kaneb recalled her first meeting with the killer when she visited his Nevada jail alongside NCIP founder Linda Starr.

'I still remember in that first visit you were looking at Linda the whole time and I took my hair out,' she texted.

'I wanted you to look at me — I've never admitted that before.

'I remember when she left for a few minutes. It was like my chest would explode. And we began talking…. ❤.'

'I'm sorry things fell apart and that it had such a negative effect on you. I never wanted that,' she wrote in July last year.

'I love you. I always have. Never stopped. Always will,' he told her in one text.

'I love you too,' she wrote in response. 'Always have, always will.'

She also sent him a series of risque selfies including two of her dressed in a sarong in front of a mirror.

Kaneb has since admitted she had a romantic relationship with Funches in 2023 and 2024, which a spokesperson notes was long after Caldwell's release had been secured.

But Funches claims the relationship was all a ruse to get him to testify in the civil trial.

'She pretended to take a personal interest in me. We began a romantic relationship,' he told the Standard. 'It was the art of seduction at its finest. All to get me to finally help Mr. Caldwell.' 

The State Bar is now investigating Funches' claims.

The Northern California Innocence Project, based at Santa Clara University, is also investigating Kaneb's actions.

'As with any unit of the university, when we receive any allegations of inappropriate conduct by an employee, we refer the matter to the university for investigation,' executive director Todd Fries said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for San Francisco's city attorney added: 'We take this information seriously, and will be looking into the matter.'