AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION: NU class frees innocent man

and Emily Bittner The Daily Northwestern EVANSTON, Ill. (U-WIRE) -- Less than 72 hours after five Medill School of Journalism students and Journalism Professor David Protess presented prosecutors with evidence to clear convicted murderer Anthony Porter, he was released from prison so quickly it surprised even his supporters. "I've never seen it happen that fast," Protess said. Trying to talk above the noise of his laughing family, Porter, 44, said it was "exhilarating" to be released after spending almost 17 years on death row for a murder he did not commit. "I'm trying to find a word for how it feels," Porter said. "It was like, 'I'm free.'" Juggling calls from reporters and well-wishers, Porter found time on his third night of freedom to join his family for dinner at Old Country Buffet. Wined and dined since Friday, he said he is getting tired from all the attention. "Right now, I'm planning to go to bed," he said Sunday night. "I'll make more plans as soon as I get used to being free." Porter was convicted of shooting to death teenagers Jerry Hillard and Marilyn Green in 1982 in Chicago's Washington Park. In September 1998, Porter was 48 hours away from being executed. He narrowly missed that execution because his attorney, Dan Sanders, argued to the Illinois Supreme Court that Porter's IQ of 51 rendered him unable to understand his death sentence. The students in Protess' class took on the Porter case fall quarter as investigative reporters. After re-enacting the crime in November, they came to believe Porter was innocent. With the assistance of Chicago private investigator Paul Ciolino, they tracked down Milwaukee resident Alstory Simon, who confessed last Wednesday morning to committing the crime. The Cook County state's attorney's office obtained a warrant Saturday night for the arrests of Simon and his estranged wife, Inez Jackson, who told students in a videotaped interview January 29 that she was with Simon at the time of the murders. State prosecutors, who issued a warrant Saturday for Simon's arrest, said they waited three days after his confession to allow time to confirm the evidence provided by Protess' team, said Bob Benjamin, a spokesperson for the state's attorney's office. "We investigated some people, talked to folks in Chicago, downstate Illinois and Wisconsin," Benjamin said. "We had to develop our own information and confirm other information." Simon and Jackson were in custody Sunday after turning themselves in at 1:30 p.m., Benjamin said. Simon will enter a plea of not guilty, said his attorney, Jack Rimland, who has been a Chicago defense lawyer for 31 years. But it is too early for prosecutors to say if they will seek the death penalty for Simon, Benjamin said. Jackson was charged with one count of obstruction of justice, Benjamin said. Although she was held in custody Sunday night, Protess said Jackson was expected to be released today. She came to Chicago from Milwaukee for prosecutors to question her. By the time they had finished, no judges were available to hold the bond hearing that would have released her Sunday night.