Tuesday, April 15, 2008
(04-15) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether a man who served 24 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned can sue two former prosecutors, including a former California attorney general, for allegedly violating his civil rights.
Thomas Goldstein, 59, was convicted of a 1979 murder on the strength of a jailhouse informant's testimony that Goldstein had confessed to the crime. The informant testified that he received no benefit in return, but evidence that came to light later suggested he had struck a deal to get a lighter sentence.
Two federal judges and a federal appeals panel eventually ruled that Goldstein was wrongly convicted and he was freed in 2004.
Prosecutors generally enjoy immunity from suits so they can make decisions without fear of legal retaliation. But Goldstein sued former District Attorney John Van de Kamp and his former chief deputy, Curt Livesay, claiming that as managers they had a policy of relying on jailhouse informants even though the practice sometimes produced false evidence.
Van de Kamp later became California attorney general. He still practices law in Los Angeles and chairs the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, set up by state lawmakers to look at ways of preventing wrongful convictions.
Van de Kamp and Livesay appealed to the Supreme Court after the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, said Goldstein's lawsuit could proceed. The case will be argued in the fall.
"This is an issue that needs to be resolved," Van de Kamp said. "I don't draw any conclusions on how they are going to rule."
If Goldstein ultimately is successfully in suing, the case could lead to senior managers in other prosecutors' offices being held liable for the conduct of their prosecutors in the courtroom, Van de Kamp said.
A message left at Livesay's law firm in Long Beach was not immediately returned.
Goldstein was a college student when he was arrested for the Nov. 3, 1979, shotgun killing of John McGinest in Long Beach. Goldstein lived nearby, but no physical evidence implicated him and the weapon was never found.
The informant, a convicted felon named Edward Floyd Fink, made a deal with prosecutors in which he testified that Goldstein told him in a jail cell that he shot McGinest over an unpaid debt.
Fink, who testified that he had not received any benefit in return for his testimony, received 48 days in jail after pleading guilty to a grand theft charge, said his defense lawyer, Ronald Owen Kaye. These details never emerged during Goldstein's trial.
"He made a bald face lie in front of the jury and said he got no benefit," Kaye said.
Fink had testified in more than 10 cases that people confessed crimes to him while sharing a jail cell. Another eyewitness in Goldstein's case later recanted testimony identifying Goldstein as the gunman.
Van de Kamp is being represented by Los Angeles County in the case. He said he is unsure if he would be held personally financially liable if Goldstein prevails.
The case is Van de Kamp and Livesay vs. Goldstein, 07-854.
This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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