Settlement Shrouds NU Wrongful Conviction Suit In Secrecy

EVANSTON, IL — A confidential settlement agreed last week in federal court means the truth behind one of Illinois most controversial wrongful conviction cases could stay shrouded in secrecy. Northwestern University and a former professor agreed to settle a $40 million lawsuit filed by Alstory Simon, who served nearly 15 years in prison for a murder another man had been about 48 hours away from being executed for. None of the parties admit any wrongdoing and none of them can comment on the terms of the settlement or how much – if any – money was involved to end the case a month before depositions were due to take place.

Simon said he was coerced into confessing repeatedly and pleading guilty to murder as a result of an investigation by a class of journalism students. He sued Northwestern, David Protess, who ran the Medill Innocence Project at the university's journalism school, private investigator Paul Ciolino and defense attorney Jack Rimland, accusing them of conspiracy and malicious prosecution. Rimland was removed from the case. Ciolino refused to settle, and Simon's lawyers voluntarily dropped their case against him as they agreed unspecified terms with the university and former professor.

The case began when Protess his students began researching a 1982 double murder at a pool in Chicago's Washington Park. Anthony Porter had been sentenced to death for the crime and in 1998 came within two days of being executed. The next year, following the release of a videotaped confession from Simon obtained by Ciolino, Porter was released. The case contributed to convincing former governor George Ryan to end the death penalty in 2011, and Simon wound up with a 37-year prison sentence.

But Simon's conviction was thrown out in 2014 by former Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, overruling a recommendation from the chiefs of her office's criminal prosecutions bureau. She criticized the "alarming tactics" of Protess and his class, saying its investigation had been "deeply corroded and corrupted" and may have violated Simon's constitutional rights.

Protess, 72, left Northwestern in 2011 after the university accused him of lying and doctoring emails in a separate investigation. His attorney, Matthew Piers, said the retired professor had been paying mounting fees at cost for nearly three years to fight the accusations and would not have been able to recover attorney fees even if he had come out on top at trial.

"The expense of the litigation, even paying at cost, was crushing to him financially," Piers said. "If we had gone to trial, I have little doubt that we would have prevailed. But he would have been out of pocket significantly greater amount of money with no ability to recover."

Simon's lead attorney, Terry Ekl, in 2014 told the Daily Northwestern that Protess and Ciolino elicited a false confession for the "sole attempt" of getting Porter off death row, calling the former professor "not a credible individual" and a "self-promoter." Ekl has not responded to a request for comment.

In a statement, the university said it was "pleased" the lawsuit had been settled.

"Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Northwestern does not admit to any wrongdoing," spokesperson Alan Cubbage said.

Ciolino has filed a defamation suit against Alvarez, Simon and his legal team, a police union official and others alleging a conspiracy to discredit those seeking to expose wrongful convictions. His lawyer called the settlement "appalling," telling the Tribune the other parties "want to stop discovery, and they don't want to litigate."

Judge M. David Weisman had set a deadline of mid-July for depositions under oath for the central players in the case, including Simon and Protess. A sworn deposition given by Alvarez earlier this year remains under seal.

The Medill Innocence Project was rebranded as the Medill Justice Project and new ethical guidelines were put in place after Protess' acrimonious departure. He was succeeded by Alec Klein, who has been on leave since February while the school investigates allegations of inappropriate behavior by more than two dozen women.