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Prisoner Freed After Recanting Testimony "Angry"

IDOC

A man released from a west central Illinois prison after recanting a confession to a 1982 double murder says he's angry with those he alleges coerced his admission of guilt.  

A judge ordered Alstory Simon's release Thursday after Cook County prosecutors re-examined the case.  
Simon's initial confession led to the release in 1999 of another man who was on death row for the killings.  

Simon told reporters outside Jacksonville Correctional Center that he's angry with those who _ in his words _ ``did what they did'' to him.  
Simon's attorneys say a private investigator coerced the confession with threats and promises of a movie deal and money.  

After 15 years in prison, Simon also said he looks forward to meeting his grandchildren for the first time.  

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez says there's ``compelling'' evidence that a prisoner freed from death row through Alstory's confession was responsible for the 1982 killings he was initially convicted of carrying out.  
But, she says, Anthony Porter cannot be tried again because of protections against double jeopardy.  

Alvarez said several witnesses interviewed during the re-examination continue to maintain that Porter was the gunman.  

The Porter case was instrumental in the campaign to end the death penalty in Illinois. 

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