Paul Ciolino

In March 2021, the Bonjean Law Group secured a significant victory in a defamation lawsuit filed on behalf of private investigator Paul Ciolino. The case arose from a documentary and related publications that allegedly defamed Mr. Ciolino for his investigative work leading to the exoneration of Death Row inmate Anthony Porter in 1999.

Initially, the Cook County Circuit Court dismissed the lawsuit, citing the statute of limitations. The First District Illinois Appellate Court reversed the dismissal and reinstated the case, except for one defendant. One defendant, attorney Terry Ekl, petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court for review. Following oral arguments by Jennifer Bonjean, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court’s ruling, holding that the Chicago screening of the documentary on July 15, 2015 was the triggering event for the statute of limitations. Consequently, Ciolino’s January 2016 filing was timely.

The underlying controversy stemmed from the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of Porter, who had been sentenced to death for the 1982 murders of Jerry Hillard and Marilyn Green. Ciolino obtained a videotaped confession from Alstory Simon, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison. Subsequent post-conviction developments and media coverage, including the documentary A Murder in the Park, alleged misconduct by Ciolino, Northwestern University students, and others, claiming Simon was framed to secure Porter’s exoneration. Ciolino countered that these publications defamed him to discredit the wrongful conviction movement.

With the Illinois Supreme Court ruling, the lawsuit was reinstated, allowing Mr. Ciolino to proceed in seeking to prove the truth of his investigative work and defend his reputation.