Podcast Summary: The New Yorker Radio Hour

Episode: John Thompson vs. American Justice

Release Date: January 29, 2019
Host: David Remnick
Reported by: Andrew Marantz and Sara Lustbader

Overview

This episode presents the harrowing story of John Thompson, a man from New Orleans who was wrongly convicted of carjacking and murder, sentenced to death, and spent 18 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. The episode challenges the notion of fairness in the American justice system, exposing deep flaws in prosecution and accountability, particularly around prosecutorial misconduct and the hiding of exculpatory evidence. It traces Thompson's wrongful conviction, the desperate and near-miraculous process of exoneration, and his fight for justice against an unrepentant system.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Fundamental Imbalance in the Justice System

• Innocent vs. Proven Guilty: The show opens by questioning America's belief in "innocent until proven guilty," highlighting how the reality often departs from this ideal ([00:05]).
• Public Defenders' Disadvantage:
  • Sara Lustbader, former Bronx public defender, shares: "I have to fight my cases with one hand tied behind my back and blindfolded" ([01:21]).
  • Prosecutors often withhold key evidence, making it an uneven contest where defense doesn’t know what it doesn’t know.
• The Brady Rule:
  • Established in 1963, requires prosecutors to turn over evidence favorable to the defendant.
  • Reality diverges: “Prosecutors don’t always turn over that evidence. And no judge, no jury, no one’s there to force the prosecutors to turn the evidence over.” ([02:42] - Sara Lustbader)

John Thompson’s Arrest and Railroading

• Background:
  • Thompson was a young father involved in low-level crimes—drug dealing, fencing stolen goods—but had no violent record ([04:42]).
• Murder and Carjacking Charges:
  • Wrongly identified and accused of a high-profile murder, mainly because a witness claimed to have seen Thompson sell the murder weapon ([06:57]).
  • After media coverage, he was also accused of a carjacking; his photo led to misidentification ([09:34]).
• Prosecution Tactics:
  • The DA's office, led by Harry Connick Sr., rushed to conviction and scheduled the carjacking trial before the murder to secure a prior violent offense, enabling pursuit of the death penalty ([09:59]).
• Evidence Withheld:
  • At the carjacking trial, prosecutors claimed to provide all scientific evidence but withheld key material ([10:05]).
  • Convicted solely on eyewitness testimony, Thompson received 49 years without parole for the carjacking, which set the stage for a death sentence in the murder trial ([11:05]).

Life and Despair on Death Row

• Emotional Toll:
  • John describes witnessing executions as traumatic: “To see an execution… man, it’s remarkable. I’m sorry to see these guys praying. I mean, this fucked me up.” ([12:30])
• Hopelessness and Systemic Failure:
  • “Once I was convicted of the fucking robbery that I didn’t do, that was done deal. I ain’t had no faith in the system.” ([11:05])

The Fight for Exoneration

• Pro Bono Hope:
  • Philadelphia lawyers Michael Banks and Gordon Cooney, whose only experience was corporate civil litigation, take on John’s case ([14:33]).
  • Initial skepticism from John due to their background: “Fuck no. Trust them for what?… You gonna be able to relate to them more than you can relate to your own fucking client.” ([15:49])
• Relentless Dead Ends:
  • Despite years of appeals and new evidence (such as witnesses being paid), the courts systematically reject John’s petitions ([18:20]).
  • “The agonizing sense of frustration and fear… it was pretty consuming.” ([18:34] – Gordon Cooney)
• Facing Imminent Execution:
  • “He needed to get himself emotionally prepared for the likelihood that he was going to die in a month.” ([18:59])
  • John refuses to turn on his lawyers to claim ineffective counsel in a last-ditch effort, citing their dedication ([20:22]).

The Breakthrough

• Miracle Discovery:
  • Investigator Elisa Abelafia, in a last-ditch effort, discovers a withheld lab report: the carjacker’s blood type was B; John was type O ([23:10], [24:04]).
  • “John couldn’t have been the carjacker… John couldn’t have been the carjacker. When John heard that news, he realized exactly what it meant. 'I'm gonna live. I’m gonna live.'” ([25:04]-[25:11])
• Brady Violation Exposed:
  • A paradigm case: “This is a nightmare for defense lawyers… The prosecutors had it, didn’t turn it over, and their client was sent to death row.” ([25:23]).

The Deathbed Confession

• Acknowledgment of Misconduct:
  • Former prosecutor Jerry Deegan confesses to hiding evidence before his death, as revealed by Mike Realman ([27:20]).
  • Realman’s response: “I just told him he had to do something about it.” ([27:31])

Retrial and Final Acquittal

• Evidence Floodgates Opened:
  • Armed with the hidden files, defense uncovers new witnesses contradicting the prosecution’s theory ([29:35]).
  • Michael Banks: “Now we were able to reconstruct the entirety of the murder and say, wow, John didn’t do it.” ([30:33])
• Trial and Exoneration:
  • John finally testifies, the exculpatory evidence comes out, and a new jury returns with “not guilty” after just 35 minutes ([32:45]).
  • John’s reaction: “When he said, not guilty, that’s the only thing I heard from then on. Nothing else… That was a hell of a hell of a feeling.” ([32:45])

The Legal Aftermath: Thompson vs. Connick

• Seeking Accountability:
  • John asks, “How is what happened to me not a crime?” ([35:24])
  • Prosecutors refuse any compensation; individual prosecutors have “absolute immunity” for their job conduct ([36:07]).
• Suing the Office:
  • John’s lawyers sue the DA’s office, citing systemic failure to train on Brady ([36:41]).
  • Harry Connick Sr., former DA, is cavalier about convictions—“That’s what we do. You know, that’s our living.” ([38:06])
  • He admits under oath to not knowing or teaching the critical Brady rule ([39:04]).
• Jury Verdict:
  • John wins $14 million—symbolically a million for each year on death row ([40:19]).
  • Connick is unrepentant: “He got a million dollars a year for 14 years. That’s a pretty stiff penalty for the taxpayer to have to pay.” ([41:19])
  • He refuses to acknowledge John’s innocence: “They really come back and say not guilty. They don’t say that he was innocent.” ([41:54])

The Supreme Court & The Limits of Justice

• SCOTUS Ruling:
  • The District Attorney’s office appeals to the Supreme Court, which overturns the $14 million verdict in a 5-4 decision (authored by Justice Clarence Thomas).
  • Holding: The DA’s office cannot be held liable for prosecutors’ failure to follow Brady absent a pattern of deliberate indifference ([44:41]).
  • John: “The highest court in the land say, fuck you. We ain’t getting your shit… We don’t want to open this floodgate to having every district attorney be scared.” ([45:10])
• No Real Consequences:
  • The actual whistleblower (Realman) gets a slap on the wrist; none of the prosecutors who hid evidence face discipline ([47:23]).
  • “Both of them are still practicing today.” ([47:23])

Broader Reflections: Prosecutorial Culture and Systemic Change

• Prosecutorial Ethos:
  • Prosecutors’ job, in theory, is to “seek justice, not win convictions,” but culture and incentives prioritize winning ([48:12]).
  • John Thompson: “It’s mandatory that [the prosecutor] wins because of his career, not because of nothing else… It’s on us [society]—we don’t have nothing in place to demand his ass do the right thing.” ([49:44]-[50:53])
• Paths to Reform:
  • Sara Lustbader suggests "open file discovery"—full sharing of prosecution evidence with the defense—along with “judges getting involved earlier” ([53:04]).
  • Changing voter standards can help; there’s a trend toward electing reform prosecutors ([54:24]).
  • “If we want to change that culture, it’s not just a matter of individual prosecutors acting better. It’s on us...” ([54:59])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “I have to fight my cases with one hand tied behind my back and blindfolded.” – Sara Lustbader [01:21]
• “Prosecutors don’t always turn over that evidence. And no judge, no jury, no one’s there to force the prosecutors...” – Sara Lustbader [02:42]
• “Once I was convicted of the fucking robbery that I didn’t do, that was done deal. I ain’t had no faith in the system.” – John Thompson [11:05]
• “To see an execution… this fucked me up.” – John Thompson [12:30]
• “Do you think we might be able to get [the execution date] changed? My youngest son’s graduation is the next day.” – John Thompson [19:23]
• “We found some blood. We just trying to make sure it ain’t your blood. What’s your blood type?” – Michael Banks/Andrew Marantz relay [24:04]
• “She, I’m gonna live. I’m gonna live.” – John Thompson [25:11]
• “It’s a nightmare for defense lawyers that there’s something that definitively proves that their client is innocent. The prosecutors had it, didn’t turn it over…” – Sara Lustbader [25:23]
• “Now we were able to reconstruct the entirety of the murder and say, wow, John didn’t do it.” – Michael Banks [30:33]
• “When he said, not guilty, that’s the only thing I heard from then on. Nothing else… That was a hell of a hell of a feeling.” – John Thompson [32:45]
• “This prosecutor tried to kill me. He ain’t trying to abuse his authority now… He tried to kill me.” – John Thompson [35:24]
• “Prosecutors have absolute immunity for anything they do in the course of their job.” – Sara Lustbader [36:07]
• “That’s what we do. You know, that’s our living.” – Harry Connick Sr. [38:06]
• “You, John, are the good guy in this. And the prosecutors… they were the bad guys. You were the good guy.” – Michael Banks [40:00]
• “It’s the wrong thing what you did, John Thompson. That’s what I tell…” – John Thompson on running into Connick [51:53]
• “If we want to change that culture, it’s not just a matter of individual prosecutors acting better. It’s on us…” – Sara Lustbader [54:59]

Important Segment Timestamps

• Opening: The imbalance in criminal justice – [00:05–04:35]
• John Thompson’s early life and arrest – [04:35–09:34]
• Conviction and prosecutorial conduct – [09:34–13:27]
• Life on death row – [12:27–14:22]
• Taking the case on appeal – [14:22–18:20]
• Dead ends and last-ditch discovery – [18:20–25:11]
• Revelations of misconduct / confession – [26:17–29:12]
• Exoneration and new trial – [29:35–33:35]
• Accountability and the lawsuit – [35:17–43:57]
• Supreme Court ruling – [43:57–45:05]
• Reflections on systemic change – [51:05–54:59]

Takeaways

• Systemic Problems: John Thompson’s case reveals how prosecutorial misconduct is often shielded by legal doctrines like "absolute immunity" and a culture prioritizing convictions over justice.
• Accountability is Lacking: With few real consequences for Brady violations, wrongful convictions can and do occur—sometimes leading to life and death consequences.
• Hope and Reform: The few potential reforms—open file discovery, judicial oversight, and changing the cultural incentives for prosecutors—depend heavily on public awareness and political will.

Tone & Language

The episode is candid, emotional, and direct—often raw, especially in Thompson’s speech—reflecting the urgency and trauma of fighting for one’s life against an unfeeling system. The hosts and reporters maintain an investigative but empathetic approach.

This episode is a sobering portrait of American justice, prosecutorial power, and the profound personal consequences when the system's incentives go unchecked.