By Sandrea:-MY GRIPE
Following the decision by the United States Supreme Court to throw out the jury verdict that offer a $14 million dollars to John Thompson who endure 18 years in prison on death-row for a crime he did not commit, demonstrate a dangerous precedent and clearly favour the office of the prosecutor.
The only thing that a person wrongly convicted can achieve apart from their freedom is to be compensated for the years of illegal detention by the state. To remove this life-life from these individuals unjustly convicted for crimes that they did not take part in is to deny justice twice.
It is rather dangerous for the Supreme Court to say to the prosecuting office that they have carte blanc in not only with-holding vital information from the defence, information that may exonerate their client, but they have given the prosecution the authority to present false and inaccurate evidence which if an individual is wrongly convicted then they have no recourse to seek compensation.
This decision have set back the judiciary service by twenty years and will in fact make jury afraid of allocating substantial compensation to the wrongly convict. How can this be when an individual that is slander can be awarded millions and I do not see the Supreme Court jumping up and down to withdraw these awards.
Mr Thompson was imprisoned for 18 years, which is a life time for some people, and not only was he incarcerated his very existence was threaten, he was on death-row for a murder. How could the Supreme Court justify this decision is beyond me.
The question for me is would the Supreme Court be so quick to withdrew this compensation if it was a member of their family that was put through this unjust act? What would motivate this body to take away from an individual the only thing that he could receive in benefit for all of the things that he has lost? They cannot give him back those eighteen years, so what possible justification could they have.
The lawyers for Mr Thompson stated “If prosecutors’ offices cannot be held accountable under the facts of this case it is difficult to imagine when they would be accountable.” I could not agree with them more. There is no way that Mr Thompson should have to prove that the prosecutor’s office was bias and bigoted that proof was quite evident when they convicted him illegally and put him on death-row for 14 of the 18 years he was given, what more evidence could anyone decent human being need to see that the prosecution office made a grave mistake and they should pay for that error of judgement.
How much more innocent people is going to be convicted and sent to prison for crimes they did not commit because of this rather idiotic decision by the Supreme Court. This is a Court where justice is suppose to be upheld and they should not be taking side and clearly one does not need spectacle to see that their decision favoured the prosecuting office.
Democracy have taken quite a knock by this decision and I am concerned for the justice system in that the impartiality that should exist within have disappear and the scale have tipped firmly on the side of the prosecution and this cannot be good for anyone in particular those that are been wrongly convicted now are in the future.
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