Supreme court defends prosecution that withholds evidence which proves man on death row is innocent.

Supreme court defends prosecution that withholds evidence which proves man on death row is innocent.

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.

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[color=#ffffff]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. There were no ethics charges against them, no criminal charges, no one was fired and now, according to the Supreme Court, no one can be sued.

www.nytimes.com...

This is beyond sick. It's one thing if this was a bad apple or two in a localized district, but the fact that the highest court in the land, the one tasked with defending us from an overbearing government is in on it too... is just very indicative of the times we live in today.

Being on ATS for a few months now and reading all I can, nothing really makes my blood boil anymore. I've gotten used to seeing a separate set of laws used against the poor, the rich, and the government. But this is just beyond anything else I've seen before. This is truly sick and the fact that this isn't even getting as much coverage as Charlie Sheen's comedy tour makes it even worse.

This is kinda the only reason i'm against the death penalty even for the most horrific acts. There is ALWAYS the risk of putting an innocent person to death (even with evidence people can get framed). Makes you wonder how often it happened, and will happen again.

This man lost 18 years of his life and nobody is held accountable while the proof is there someone clearly was....

Totally backwards, death sentence without real evidence, and a conviction overturned WITH evidence...

this is bad , its nasty that this happens we really are sheeple , at the mercy of prawn sandwich buffet eaters wi the big houses and the "connections" nothing protects the 'little people' unless its for media gain

reply to post by ayoss


I hope he gets a top notch lawyer and sues the pants off them

reply to post by bluemirage5


He already tried that. The Supreme Court ruled against him.

There's nowhere you can go after Supreme Court, is there?

reply to post by ayoss


I have long known, you only get the "Justice" you can afford. or are willing to take.
Sad, but this gentleman is between a rock and a hard spot.

Some additional info I dug up:

In rejecting the judgment, Justice Thomas described the case as a "single incident" in which mistakes were made. He said Thompson did not prove a pattern of similar violations that would justify holding the city's government liable for the wrongdoing. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined to form the majority.

However, Thompson's lawyers showed that at least four prosecutors knew about the hidden blood test. They also showed evidence of other, similar cases in New Orleans in which key evidence was concealed from defense lawyers.

articles.latimes.com...

Protip: If you attempt to murder someone once, but not twice, it's ok. There's no pattern showing that you're a bad person so it cancels out.

It's troubling to know that they withheld evidence and still went for the death penalty, sending a man they knew to be innocent to his death. When caught, instead of showing remorse or guilt, they contest the ruling and take it all the way up to the Supreme Court. How the hell do these people sleep at night?

Everyone involved should be charged with attempted murder at the very least.

This is just ridiculous, how could someone lock up an innocent man and sleep at night?

reply to post by Openminds32


No compensation is going to be enough to pay this man for the years he lost but he still deserves a heck of a lot of compensation.

Clarence Thomas deserves what's coming to him soon enough. Write some emails, people. It makes a difference when you flood your governmental representatives - all of them! - and make them hear your voices. Use a civil voice, but be firm. Let them know that your justice system is not going to be like this. Put pressure on them. They have a cushy number there and they know it. Make them work now. Make them do your bidding. That's why they're there, folks.

this is attempted murder in the first degree. with the judge as an accessory.

he might as well attempt to kill the prosecutors and judge and take a rather twisted self defense angle.

reply to post by ayoss


the gun store is the highest ruling court in the land.

I'm sorry, but if I was wrongfully imprisoned for 18 years, and those responsible got nothing (and I got nothing to show for it), I'd be getting some "frontier justice" if you know what I mean... Simple as that really.

reply to post by ayoss


Now I am no lawyer, but when things goto court, arent the prosecutors and defense lawyers supposed to share everything in what is called "discovery?"
If true, then what the prosecutors did was purely illegal by withholding that info.

Do people read? He fought it, won, and the supreme court overturned the conviction..

He WON against the people that framed him but the supreme court ruled AGAINST that victory

Originally posted by rangersdad
reply to post by ayoss

 

Now I am no lawyer, but when things goto court, arent the prosecutors and defense lawyers supposed to share everything in what is called "discovery?"
If true, then what the prosecutors did was purely illegal by withholding that info.

I think you're right, I'm hoping the FBI gets involved which I think is what happens when a police dept is seen as incapable of investigating itself. (I know this wasn't the police dept in this case but they're playing for the same team.)

I'm not counting on it though. I don't really hold them in very high regard between CoIntelPro and their recent raids of anti-war activists this past year. I see them as part of the problem, not the solution. But hey, if they do something about this... it's a step in the right direction in my book.

that whole situation is foul...
take it to a higher power, sue and get hella money.

Most lawyers are just as evil as the people they put away. The difference is one persons actions are frowned upon by society, whereas the others' actions are commended.

There is always civil court. I wonder why the plaintiff's case is being squashed?

Perhaps because of the immense liability of having perpetrated miscarriages of justice under the authority of "the people" repeatedly.

Or perhaps because if you start to visualize just who get's sentenced to some extreme degree of punishment, and who is most likely to serve markedly less time for similar crimes (relatively speaking), the nature of a deeper, more ugly problem becomes immediately evident.

The institution of justice became a very questionable thing once political interests became part of the paradigm.

I really don't know what to say about this.

The guy won a case against the people who wrongfully convicted him, only to have it over-turned by the Supreme Court! There's no higher authority he can take it to except God.

This needs be broadcast to EVERYONE! People need to know what's going on and realize that this can happen to anyone. You can have 18 years of your life snatched away, finally receive vindication, only to have the SC rule that it's a single incident so basically suck it up!

I'm sorry, but I'd be waiting for Mr. Thomas when he stepped out of the shower...