HUFFINGTON
08.04.13
RADLEY BALKO
THE UNTOUCHABLES
But here, too, the federal courts
have built a formidable legal moat
around recompense for the wrongly imprisoned — and around indirect accountability for the prosecutors who put them away. Since
1976, only a narrow theory of municipal liability and the possibility
of professional sanction remain as
viable avenues to hold prosecutors
accountable. And in an era where
the prevailing criminal justice climate has been to find more ways
to fill more prisons as quickly as
possible, neither has done much of
anything to deter misconduct.
That’s generally true across the
country, and it’s particularly true
in Orleans Parish.
A TRADITION OF INDIFFERENCE
In 1985, John Thompson was convicted of two felonies; first for the
armed robbery of a university student and two others, then three
weeks later for the murder of
Raymond T. Liuzza, Jr. The armed
robbery conviction kept Thompson from testifying on his own
behalf at his murder trial — doing
so would have allowed prosecutors to bring up the other conviction in front of the jury. So he
was convicted for the murder, too.
For the next 14 years, Thompson
Sam Dalton,
who has
practiced
criminal
defense
law for 60
years in New
Orleans,
is leading
the charge
against
prosecutors’
misconduct.