Freed Inmate Sues for $40M

A recently freed inmate who was wrongly convicted and spent almost 15 years in prison is suing Northwestern University for $40 million in damages. Alstory Simon was cleared of his conviction in October, claiming he was coerced into confessing on videotape to a double-murder in 1982. In the suit, Simon claims that lack of oversight at Northwestern allowed a former professor, private investigator and an attorney to conspire to frame him. Ex-professor David Protess and private investigator Paul Ciolino "intentionally manufactured false witness statements against Simon and then used fabricated evidence, along with terrifying threats and other illegal and deceitful tactics, to coerce a knowingly false confession from Simon," the suit says.