Northwestern University settles suit with man imprisoned after journalism school probe

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

CHICAGO — Northwestern University on Friday reached an undisclosed settlement to end a lawsuit by a man who spent more than 15 years in prison for a 1982 double murder — a conviction later vacated by prosecutors — in the aftermath of an investigation conducted by the university’s journalism school.

The Northwestern investigation of Alstory Simon led by professor David Protess, who was a defendant in the suit, played a major role in Simon's initial conviction for the killing of two teens at a Chicago park and also was central to Illinois eventually abolishing the death penalty.

Another man, Anthony Porter, spent 16 years on death row for the double murder of two teens at a Chicago park, before the Northwestern team uncovered evidence pointing to Simon's role and persuaded him to confess to the crime.

In the aftermath of the Northwestern investigation, Porter was exonerated for the killings and the governor at the time, George Ryan, was so unnerved by the case that he placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois.

But Simon, whose conviction was vacated in 2014 after a prosecutor review of the case, contended in his lawsuit that he was set up by the Northwestern team, which included Protess, private investigator Paul Ciolino, and students. He claims the set-up was part of an effort by the university's journalism program to burnish the school's reputation and boost fundraising.

Simon said that Ciolino and another man "bull rushed" his apartment and falsely told him that he was facing the death penalty and that the Chicago police were on their way to Simon’s house to arrest him.

He also said that Ciolino promised him that Protess would ensure he received a short prison sentence if he agreed to give a videotaped statement. Simon also claimed he was coerced by the promise of large sums of money from book and movie deals about the case if he cooperated.

Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations, said under terms of the settlement "Northwestern does not admit to any wrongdoing." Matthew Piers, an attorney representing Protess, said in an interview that his client stands by his and his team's investigation.

"The financial burden of this case was destroying my client," said Piers, who said Protess would have preferred to seen the case go to trial if he could have afforded it.

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In 1998, Porter was given a stay two days before his scheduled execution after his lawyer successfully argued his IQ was so low that he didn’t understand what was happening.

Months later, Simon gave a videotaped confession to Ciolino, who was working with Protess and Northwestern students on the investigation. Simon also repeated his confession several times, and apologized to the victims’ families in court before being sentenced to serve a 37-year prison term.

But in 2014, Simon’s conviction was vacated by the then county prosecutor, Anita Alvarez, who said she had concerns about the case.

She said her office’s reexamination of the case raised questions about the conduct of Ciolino, who Simon said coaxed him into confessing to the killings of 17-year-old Jerry Hillard and 19-year-old Marilyn Green as they were sitting in a Chicago park.

Simon filed a $40 million suit against Northwestern, Protess and Ciolino in 2015. His attorneys on Friday fled a motion to drop the suit against Ciolino as they announced the settlement with the university and Protess

Terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed in court documents. Attorneys for Simon, Protess and a spokesman for Northwestern declined to comment details of the settlement, citing a confidentiality clause that prohibits all parties from discussing the terms.

Alvarez in announcing her decision in 2014 to vacate the conviction of Simon described Ciolino as a "rogue investigator." She accused him of barging into Simon's Milwaukee home with another man who had a weapon, and she took issue with him showing Simon a video that featured a paid actor who said he witnessed Simon commit the murder.

Alvarez said she was also "deeply troubled'" by the legal representation Simon received during his trial. Simon was represented by an attorney, Jack Rimland, who was recommended to him by Ciolino.

Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney for Ciolino, maintains that Simon carried out the killings and that Alvarez moved to vacate the conviction because she despised Protess and the university’s work on shedding light on wrongful convictions, which over the years has led to several murder convictions being overturned in Illinois.

Ciolino filed a defamation lawsuit in January against Simon Alvarez, Simon's attorney Terry Ekl, and the makers of a documentary critical of the Northwestern team's work that led to Simon’s conviction.

The defamation suit alleges that the documentary falsely portrays “that with the blessing of Northwestern University, David Protess and…Paul Ciolino framed an innocent man (SIMON) so that death row inmate Anthony Porter could become a ‘poster boy’ for the bid to end executions in Illinois.”

“He is guilty and this was a proud shakedown of Northwestern,” Bonjean said of Simon. “We continue to fight this in the state court.”

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