John Thompson was wrongfully convicted, sentenced to death, and on the verge of being executed, when his lawyers learned that the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence. He was exonerated and then he sued the prosecutor’s office. He was awarded a 14 million dollar judgment–one year for each one he spent on death row.
But last week the Supreme Court reversed that award. Connick v. Thompson, No. 09-571 (the opinion can be found here). The Court held that prosecutors are immune from failure to train claims against them.
On Saturday, the New York Times published this op-ed, where Mr. Thompson described his ordeal.
I SPENT 18 years in prison for robbery and murder, 14 of them on death row. I’ve been free since 2003, exonerated after evidence covered up by prosecutors surfaced just weeks before my execution date. Those prosecutors were never punished. Last month, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 to overturn a case I’d won against them and the district attorney who oversaw my case, ruling that they were not liable for the failure to turn over that evidence — which included proof that blood at the robbery scene wasn’t mine.
Because of that, prosecutors are free to do the same thing to someone else today.
This is a great piece on why we need some accountability for prosecutors.