John Thompson, a New Orleans man who narrowly escaped a death sentence for a murder he didn’t commit, will join a nationwide tour aimed at halting the prosecutorial misconduct that almost took his life, says USA Today. Thompson was freed 18 years after his conviction because defense lawyers discovered that the prosecutors in his case deliberately hid blood evidence that could have cleared him.
Thompson initially won a $14 million judgment, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision and ruled that prosecutors have absolute legal immunity for their official actions. Thompson says he is joining the tour organized by the New York-based Innocence Project, the Northern California Innocence Project’s Veritas Initiative, and other groups because the U.S. system of justice “cannot correct itself” without outside prompting.