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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Death |
Years Imprisoned: |
18.4 |
Year Crime: |
1984 |
Year Convicted: |
1985 |
Year Cleared: |
2003 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Louisiana |
County or Region of Crime: |
Orleans |
City of Crime: |
New Orleans |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"John Thompson was wrongly convicted in 1985 of murder and sentenced to death in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1999 Thompson's conviction was overturned and his death sentence vacated based on the prosecution's concealment of blood evidence. The court ruled that the failure to disclose the blood evidence induced Thompson not to testify -- which he had the constitutional right to do. Thompson remained imprisoned for four years while awaiting his retrial. Thompson was acquitted on May 9, 2003 after a retrial during which an exculpatory eyewitness testified. The jury acquitted Thompson after one hour of deliberation. He was released after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment from his arrest in 1984, and 14 of those years were spent on death row. Thompson filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on July 16, 2003 against the city of New Orleans and other defendants alleging prosecutorial misconduct and other violations of his constitutional rights. After a five day trial, on February 9, 2007 a federal court jury in New Orleans awarded Thompson $14 million in actual and punitive damages, plus $1,031,841.79 in attorney's fees from the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. The award was for $1 million for each of the 14 years he spent on death row before his conviction was overturned in 1999. The DA's office appealed the award, but in November 2008 a three-judge panel of the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgment. The Circuit Court granted the DA's motion for a rehearing en banc. On August 10, 2009 the Court voted 8 to 8, which meant the verdict stands. With interest from February 2007 the total judgment ($14 million plus $1 million in legal fees) had increased to more than $16 million. On March 29, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the DA's Office was absolutely immune from being sued and vacated the judgment. In 2012 the State of Louisiana awarded Thompson compensation of $330,000 ($250,000 for his wrongful incarceration and $80,000 for "loss of life opportunities."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Prosecutorial misconduct by concealing blood evidence, and that concealment induced John Thompson not to testify." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Thompson was acquitted on May 9, 2003 after a retrial " |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$330,000 (State of Louisiana, 2012)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
22 |
Age When Released: |
40 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
New Orleans Man Freed After 18 Years of Prison |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.morganlewis.com/pdfs/352C7E2B-8690-4768-914060BD1810D02C_Publication.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"New Orleans DA Leon Cannizzaro says his office can't pay lawsuit damages, by Gwen Filosa (staff), The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), January 6, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/office_cant_pay_damages_he_say.html |
Information Source 3: |
"14 million verdict stands, By Gwen Filosa (staff), The-Times-Picayune, August 11, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/14_million_verdict_stands_agai.html |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org