Anthony Porter

Anthony Porter was a gang member who was convicted of killing Marilyn Green and her fiancée Jerry Hillard in Washington Park, Chicago, in August of 1982. William Taylor who changed his story three times implicated him:

1.) He had not seen the crime take place.

2.) He saw Porter run by shortly after he heard shots fired.

3.) After intense police interrogation he actually saw Potter commit the crime.

Green's mother who said Alstory Simon killed them both for drug related reasons gave the police leads, but they never acted upon them. Porter was never actually caught, upon hearing his name in accusations he went to the police station to clear his name where he was immediately arrested on two counts of murder, one count of armed robbery, one count of unlawful restraint, and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

During the trial Porter's lawyer, who never met with him before the case began, constantly fell asleep and eventually Porter was sentenced to death and was called a "perverse shark" by the judge. He appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court in 1986 and when that was denied he appealed to the United States Supreme Court in 1987, which was also denied. He continually filed appeals to delay his execution and in 1998, just 2 days before he was set to be executed he was granted a stay.

In that same year a Northwestern University class investigated the crime as an assignment, the same class that two years before that uncovered evidence that proved the innocence of four men on death row from a double murder. A student hired a private investigator and they questioned William Taylor who said the police "threatened, harassed, and intimidated" him into his testimony. Other factors they uncovered included the shot was fired by a lefty when Porter was a righty and that Porter had an I.Q. of 51, which can be considered moderately retarded.

On January 29, 1999 Inez Jackson said to police that Alstory Simon, her husband, had killed both of the victims because of bad drug deals. Her nephew confessed that Simon hid out in his apartment after he committed the murders. On February 2, Simon confessed and three days later Porter was released. Simon was sentenced to 37 ½ years in prison.

As a result of this case Illinois Governor George Ryan issued a moratorium on all executions.

Porter has since filed civil rights lawsuits against the Chicago Police.