The Appeal Process: The Story Of John Thompson

This is the story of an innocent man named John Thompson. This story will give background information as to who Thompson was, how he was exonerated from a crime he did not commit, who all aided in Thompson’s case overturn, and why he was not rewarded the reward money which he was granted. John Thompson was a low-life drug dealer whose father was a career criminal. During Thompson’s childhood he was raised by his grandmother in Louisiana, until he decided to drop out of school in the tenth grade. The murder of Ray Liuzza: Ray Liuzza was a wealthy hotel executive, who was out enjoying a wonderful night on the town to celebrate his new job promotion, when his life flashed before his eyes. On the night of the murder it was stated that

The initial appeal that was filed claimed that Perkins had a hidden motive (he was promised reward money by the prosecution). The Appeal was denied but Thompson’s new lawyers didn’t give up they got Elisa Abolafia a defense investigator involved in the case. Abolafia was able to look deeper into all of the evidence in the case. It was during her search the she discovered Warren pope the first officer to respond to the carjacking scene gathered items that contained the suspects blood, among the items were the victims pants and shoes. When its was determined the pants were checked out a never returned it was then Elisa knew something was wrong. When looking at the evidence report it was determined that the suspect of the carjacking case had blood type B. After further investigation Elisa determined is was no way possible Thompson committed the carjacking he had type O blood. The evidence was presented to Patrick Quinland the presiding judge over both of Thompson’s cases. At the hearing it was determined that the prosecutors involved (Harry Connick sr. and Jim Williams Henry) in the case had concealed evidence and the conviction was overturned and a stay of execution was ordered so the murder case could also be further reviewed. Before filing a second appeal Conney, Banks, and Abolafia took the time to gather more evidence to build a strong case. They received witness reports from neighbors of Ray Liuzza that gave a description of the suspect. It was then determined that the suspect was six feet tall and had close cut hair . This profile was the complete opposite of Thompson, who was five-eight and had a afro. It was also gathered that the testimony which Freeman and Perkins gave in court was different from their initial statements. The only reason Perkins even included Thompson in the murder case was because he was a street kid who needed money