MICHAEL EUGENE THOMPSON (AL)
Allegation
On March 13, 2003 the State of Alabama executed Michael Thompson by lethal injection. The state and federal governments failed to ensure Thompson’s right to a fair and impartial trial, his right to an attorney when arrested, his right to competent attorneys at trial and his right to a fair and unbiased clemency hearing. A forced confession and total ineffectiveness of his attorneys at trial resulted in his execution.
CrimeOn December 10, 1984 Mrs. Maisie Gray was kidnapped from the convenience store where she worked in Attalla, Alabama. She was found in a well January 5, 1985 after Mr. Thompson’s live in girlfriend, Shirley Franklin, went to the police and took them to the body. Michael Thompson was arrested that afternoon at his mother’s home. He was tried and convicted of capital murder.
Salient Issues
After Thompson was arrested, he was interrogated for more than 24 hours, He refused to speak and repeatedly requested a phone call and an attorney.
A signed waiver form where he "refused to talk" was not found until years later during the appeals process.
When it became apparent that Thompson would not confess, the police brought in another law enforcement official who knew Thompson. He told Thompson that they could place Shirley at the well and if he did not confess they would put her in the electric chair with him. He also promised to let her go if Thompson confessed.
Thompson asked to speak to Shirley and she was immediately brought in, wearing handcuffs and begging him to "save her life".
Thompson immediately waived his right to remain silent and gave a false confession.
Shirley Franklin’s criminal history was not allowed at trial – she had been convicted twice of armed robbery and spent 8 years in an Indiana prison.
His attorneys allowed him to testify at trial and then they told him his confession "had killed him".
When Thompson found out that his girlfriend, Shirley, had gone to the police, his only goal was to "take her with him." Attempting to implicate Shirley through a confession to capital murder while testifying at trial was a merit less strategy that no professionally trained, competent lawyer would have considered reasonable.
His OWN attorneys
Shirley Franklin – to this day – maintains she was wearing a wire when she spoke with Thompson getting him to confess. The tape has never been found.
One of the jurors was Administrator for the Court – he knew the Judge and prosecutors.
The only eyewitness at the convenience store, under hypnosis, described a man who was in the store minutes before Mrs. Gray was reported missing. He did not describe Thompson and he was not called to testify at trial.
The first investigator at the scene, Joe Duncan, still maintains it was NOT Michael Thompson in the convenience store that night.
Trial
Michael Thompson was convicted of capital murder after the jury deliberated for 20 minutes. They also spent 20 minutes deciding to recommend the death penalty. His conviction was based solely on the testimony of Shirley Franklin, a twice-convicted felon and his confession, which was later, ruled "involuntary" by a Federal Judge because of the use of promises and threats.
As harmful as the confession was, had his trial attorneys not allowed him to testify, this conviction might well have been overturned on appeal. His appeals attorneys still believed he would likely not have been convicted of capital murder accept that his trial attorneys pursued irrational and actively harmful trial strategies rather than developing readily available exculpatory and mitigating evidence.
The only physical evidence at the scene of the crime was Shirley Franklin’s bathrobe. While Shirley Franklin maintained her fear of Michael Thompson, law enforcement officials have stated that she was seen alone numerous times between December 10 and January 5. Thus she had the opportunity to come forward with the truth.
Appeals
The courts in Alabama NEVER properly evaluated the involuntariness of his confession. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals simply signed the brief submitted by the State without even changing a comma. Finally in November of 1997, the Federal District Court held an evidentiary hearing on the confession and ruled orally that the confession was involuntary based on its finding that law enforcement officials obtained the confession by deceiving Michael Thompson that Shirley Franklin had been arrested and by promising not to prosecute her. Two and one half years later, this same judge stated he had committed two reversible errors – holding the hearing and making an oral ruling it would grant the habeas writ. This later finding was based on AEDPA, which was not in effect when this motion was filed. AEDPA became law in 1996. Thompson’s petition was filed in Federal District Court in 1994.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found "as a matter of law" that a policeman threatened to have Michael’s girlfriend electrocuted if he maintained his right to silence. The policeman coupled this threat with an explicit promise that she would be spared prosecution if he confessed to the crime.
The fact is that Shirley Franklin was never considered a suspect. A law enforcement official testified at the District Court hearing that there was never any evidence to implicate her in the crime and the State of Alabama PAID her the reward money.
Conclusion
Michael Thompson was executed despite clear and convincing evidence that his constitutional rights were violated. There is also ample evidence to cast more than "reasonable doubt" as to his role in this crime. Mitigating evidence that could have saved his life was presented to the judge at his sentencing hearing a month after the jury was dismissed. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals did not weigh the mitigating and aggravating evidence properly – stating that the mitigating evidence did not outweigh the aggravating evidence. The law states the aggravating evidence MUST outweigh the mitigating evidence. If they are equal then a person cannot be sentenced to death. Governor Riley stated publicly on Friday, March 7 that he would NOT grant clemency in Thompson’s case. The clemency hearing was scheduled for March 11 and Thompson’s attorneys refused to participate in a hearing that was clearly a farce. We believe that all people are guaranteed the right to a fair and unbiased clemency procedure prior to execution. This did NOT happen in Thompson’s case. The Alabama Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court did not grant relief and Thompson was executed after being strapped to the gurney for an hour at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama.
