A private investigator is teaming up with University...

A private investigator is teaming up with University of South Alabama students to probe old death-penalty cases.The effort will begin full swing Jan. 8, when classes resume and 4 student interns can begin mirroring work that has freed death row inmates in other states, said Bob Long, the Mobile investigator overseeing the project. "We've got several cases where we feel the defendants have been prosecuted unjustly," Long said. "There's a couple of inmates on death row who I would stake my life that they are innocent." The students aren't paid, but get a full class credit. Expenses are covered by Justice for We the People of Alabama, which is funded by donations. The students will work in tandem with attorneys who represent the condemned inmates.