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News Coverage of Connick v. Thompson Oral Argument

By Steve Hall

"Justices Appear Ready to Hold New Orleans Prosecutors Liable for Misconduct," is the title of Tony Mauro's report for the National Law Journal, yesterday. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared ready to give the green light to efforts by a New Orleans man to win compensation for prosecutorial misconduct that put him behind bars for more than two decades for a murder he did not commit. The Court heard arguments in the case of Connick v. Thompson in which former New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick maintains that his office should not be held liable for what he contends was a single incident of failing to hand over exculpatory evidence to the defense before trial. Louisiana appellate chief Stuart Duncan, arguing against liability, acknowledged that defendant John Thompson has suffered "terrible injuries" because of the actions of a lawyer in the prosecutor's office, but insisted that Supreme Court precedent does not allow Thompson to recover damages in a civil rights suit when no pattern of misconduct has been shown...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on October 08, 2010 (boomark / email).