The Innocence Project in Print - Summer 2011 (PDF)

9WHO WILL PROSECUTETHE PROSECUTORS?A recent Supreme Court decision begs the question of what, if anything,prosecutors can be held accountable for.In 1985, John Thompson, a 22-year-old father of two, was wrongfully convicted ofmurder and sent to death row at Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. While facinghis seventh execution date, a private investigator hired by his appellate attorneysdiscovered scientific evidence of Thompson’s innocence that had been concealed for15 years by the New Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.Thompson was released and exonerated in 2003 after 18 years in prison, 14 of themisolated on death row. The state of Louisiana gave him $10 and a bus ticket upon hisrelease. He sued the District Attorney’s Office. A jury awarded him $14 million, one foreach year on death row. When Louisiana appealed, the case went to the U.S. SupremeJOHN THOMPSON1994 TO 2003 • MICHAEL EVANS 1977 TO 2003 • PAUL TERRY 1977 TO 2003 • LONNIE ERBY 1986 TO 2003 • STEVEN AVERY 1985 TO 2003 • CALVIN WILLIS 1982 TO 2003 • NICHOLAS YARRIS 1982 TO 2003 • CALVINL. SCOTT 1983 TO 2003 • WILEY FOUNTAIN 1986 TO 2003 • LEO WATERS 1982 TO 2003 • STEPHAN COWANS 1998 TO 2004 • ANTHONY POWELL 1992 TO 2004 • JOSIAH SUTTON 1999 TO 2004 • LAFONSO ROLLINS 1994TO 2004 • RYAN MATTHEWS 1999 TO 2004 • WILTON DEDGE 1982, 1984 TO 2004 • ARTHUR L. WHITFIELD 1982 TO 2004 • BARRY LAUGHMAN 1988 TO 2004 • CLARENCE HARRISON 1987 TO 2004 • DAVID A. JONES