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On Tuesday, the
United States Supreme Court ruled against a man who had won a $14 jury verdict against New Orleans prosecutors after he spent 14 years on
Death Row for a
murder that he was convicted of after prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that proved his innocence. John Thompson was convicted of
murder and sentenced to
death. Prosecutors first tried him for an
armed robbery as a way to keep Thompson from taking the stand in his
murder case and then to use the
armed robbery conviction as a way of having the
death penalty imposed. After he was sentenced to
death, a private investigator working for Thompson's attorneys discovered that a blood test conducted in the
armed robbery case showed that Thompson did not commit the
armed robbery. The prosecutors admitted that they had intentionally withheld that blood evidence from Thompson's attorneys. As a result, the
armed robbery was dismissed and he was granted a new trial on the
murder case. New evidence emerged at the
murder trial and he was found not guilty of the
murder. Thompson sued the district attorney's office and a jury awarded him $14 million. Thompson spent a total of 18 years in prison, 14 of them on
death row. The Supreme Court overturned the jury verdict and upheld the general immunity that prosecutors have from civil liability. The decision came down along partisan idealogical lines with the 5 conservative justices winning out. Apparently, the justices found that a prosecutor cannot be sued for not ensuring that those who work for him were properly trained and followed the law.
The case is Connick v. Thompson.
For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at
www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.
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