John Thompson spent 18 years in a cramped cell — weeks away from execution— before it was brought to light that he was innocent, something prosecutors had known since before his trial in 1984.
According to The New York Times, Thompson was convicted in 1984 of a robbery. Shortly after this conviction, he was tried for an unrelated murder.
Because of his robbery conviction, Thompson decided not to testify during his murder trial.
Thompson was convicted of the murder, and spent the next 14 years on death row.
“I was delivered an execution warrant in my cell seven times,” said Thompson to The New York Times. “I was only weeks away from being executed.”
Gerry Deegan, a junior assistant district attorney working on the Thompson case, confessed on his deathbed to withholding evidence that proved Thompson’s innocence, reports Huffington Post.
According to Slate — an online magazine owned by The Washington Post Company — Deegan admitted he withheld blood test results proving that Thompson was not at the robbery, and he also removed the blood sample from the evidence room.
Prosecutors dismissed the robbery charges against Thompson in 1999. Later that year, the Louisiana state appeals court reversed the murder conviction — citing that, without the robbery conviction, Thompson would have testified on his own behalf, reports The New York Times.
Thompson was retried for the murder in 1999. After 35 minutes of deliberation, the jury found that Thompson was innocent, according to Slate.
Once released, Thompson sued former Louisiana District Attorney for New Orleans Harry Connick, Sr. for failing to properly train prosecutors of their legal obligation to turn over evidence to the defense, reports Slate.
Thompson was awarded 15 million dollars — 1 million for every year he served on death row and an additional million for attorney fees, reports The New York Times.
District court and the fifth circuit court of appeals found a verdict in favor of Thompson.
However Thompson has yet to receive any money, and — per the Supreme Court ruling on March 29 — he never will.
The five to four decision — made along party lines — concluded that, in order to hold Connick accountable, a pattern of misconduct would have to be proven, reports The New York Times.
“By their own admission, the prosecutors who tried Thompson’s armed robbery case failed to carry out justice,” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion of the court. “But the only issue before us is whether Connick was deliberately indifferent to the need to train attorneys under his authority.”
However, Thomas also recognizes that Thompson’s case is not a singular incident, acknowledging that in the last ten years Louisiana courts have overturned four other convictions for the same violation, reports Slate.
Slate also reports that — according to Thomas — there is still no pattern, because it was not blood evidence withheld in the other cases.
“The US Supreme Court does not assess facts, they only look for an error in the application of law,” said Assistant Professor of Justice and Policy Studies Will Pizio. “They use the trial transcripts as fact. Each attorney is given 30 minutes to speak and that includes time answering questions by justices.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg — who voted in favor of Thompson — voiced her disapproval to the court, citing that Connick admitted that he misunderstood the laws requiring prosecutors to disclose evidence, that he was unaware if his prosecutors had proper training, and that he quit reading law books once he was elected as district attorney, reports Slate.
Ginsberg also noted that at least five prosecutors knew Thompson was innocent for almost 20 years.
“They kept from him, year upon year, evidence vital to his defense,” said Ginsberg to The New York Times.
The New York Times published a letter from Thompson, discussing his opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision.
“I don’t care about the money. I just want to know why the prosecutors who hid evidence, sent me to prison for something I didn’t do and nearly had me killed are not in jail themselves,” said Thompson. “A crime was definitely committed in this case, but not by me.”