That's the title of an article in Best of New Orleans by David Winkler-Schmit concerning the aftermath of John Thompson's exoneration in Louisiana. It's the talk of the Crescent City. LINK
Here's the introduction of this must-read:
New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro has enough on his plate trying to put today's criminals in jail with scant resources, but now he also has to clean up a mess left by some of his predecessors.
For starters, the DA's office may have to pay a $15 million civil judgment awarded after a prosecutor under former DA Harry Connick Sr. admitted he withheld evidence in a murder trial more than 20 years ago. In that case, John Thompson spent 14 years on death row at Angola and was later acquitted of the murder after a second trial. The case could have been settled long ago for substantially less, but former DA Eddie Jordan refused to negotiate. Now Cannizzaro has to figure out how to pay for those mistakes.
Financially, the Thompson case is the largest of its kind in New Orleans history and could lead to taxpayers paying for more prosecutorial misconduct. Last month, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury decision awarding Thompson $14 million in damages and $1 million in attorney fees because the DA's office failed to properly train, monitor and supervise its attorneys on evidence disclosure.
Last week, Cannizzaro reportedly began exploring the possibility of asking the state to let his office declare bankruptcy. The only other alternative is to ask taxpayers to pick up the tab.
The Thompson case is a cautionary tale of prosecutorial misconduct.
And, conclusion:
Dane Ciolino, a Loyola University law professor, notes that Brady cases take a long time to develop, so it is possible more will surface from the Connick era. Innocence Project New Orleans, a nonprofit group, recently released a damning report on Connick's 29-year tenure that claimed four innocent men were sentenced to death because prosecutors withheld evidence. Still, Ciolino says the Thompson case doesn't set a legal precedent. The fiscal ramifications, however, are substantial.
"Fourteen million (dollars) is huge," Ciolino says. "Keep in mind these weren't the actions of a few rogue prosecutors; rather they were a pattern of practice in the DA's office at the time.
If the Thompson judgment is upheld, it will be the largest — but not the only — civil judgment hanging over Cannizzaro's office, which has an annual budget of about $11 million. In 2005, 40 former DA employees were awarded $1.9 million in a federal racial discrimination suit against Eddie Jordan for firing them after he took office. The DA dragged out the appeals process, and the $1.9 million grew with interest to $3.7 million by late 2007. The state and the city agreed to lend the DA's office $2.7 million for the judgment — $1.7 million from the state and $1 million from the city — but the office must pay both the city and state $100,000 a year until the loan is repaid. The first payment to the state is due in 2010; the city's repayment process starts in December of this year.
Cannizzaro says he has a legal obligation to try to overturn the Thompson decision, adding he will appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Once the appeal process is exhausted, Cannizzaro says he would consider negotiating a settlement with Thompson. Cannizzaro filed a request with the state for permission to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, but as of Friday he had withdrawn that request. Banks says he sympathizes with Cannizzaro and is willing to negotiate a settlement, but time is running out.
"[Cannizzaro] is cleaning up a mess that was created in part by predecessors, but now he's the guy with the broom," Banks says. "You can sit around and complain all you want that there's a mess on the floor of your kitchen, but if it's your kitchen, you have to clean it."
"New Orleans DA backs off bankruptcy idea," is an AP report from the weekend.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro had warned Louisiana officials that his office may need Chapter 9 protection.
He says that's because his office can't afford to pay $15 million awarded to a man who spent 18 years on death row before being exonerated.
But a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said Friday that Cannizzaro wants to exhaust all appeals in the civil case rather than request for state authority to file a bankruptcy petition.
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