Supreme Court Rules Against Man Wrongly Jailed For 18 Years

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.

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Over Non-Unanimous Jury Verdict

Today, the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a man convicted of attempted murder on a jury vote of 10 to 2.  Only two states, Oregon and Louisiana, allow defendants to be convicted of some crimes despite some jurors disagreeing with the majority.  More than 80 defendants have been convicted in the past five years, including at least 24 in the past 16 months by non-unanimous juries in these two states.  Troy Barbour shot Donald Baker five times with a stolen gun.  Barbour claimed he acted in self defense and Baker claimed that Barbour shot him for no reason.  Barbour was eventually convicted of attempted second-degree murder after 10 jurors voted to convict and two jurors voted to acquit.  This decision establishes that the states can adopt their own rules and are not compelled to require unanimous jury verdicts.  But even in Oregon and Louisiana, to be convicted of first-degree murder, which could bring the death penalty, requires a unanimous verdict.

The case is Barbour v. Louisiana, 10-689.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegalefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.