Thompson v. Brown, No. 17-2085 (7th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Indiana Supreme Court affirmed Thompson's 1982 murder and conspiracy to commit burglary convictions. Thompson filed a state post-conviction petition in 1992. In 1997, the final of several public defenders withdrew. Thompson’s petition languished until 2001 when he requested a copy of the record. The public defender would not represent Thompson because his prior attorneys had “found no meritorious issues.” In 2005, Thompson requested leave to proceed pro se then hired an attorney. Court-ordered DNA tests were completed, but apparently, no hearing was held. The proceedings again fell into limbo. In 2012, Thompson retained a new attorney, who filed another amended petition. The state again raised the defense of laches. The parties stipulated that the delay had prejudiced the state. Thompson argued that the delay was the fault of attorneys who had abandoned him. Indiana courts rejected Thompson’s petition. Thompson sought habeas relief, 28 U.S.C. 2254. The court dismissed, finding that Thompson’s claims were procedurally defaulted, without addressing the potential distinction between laches based on a prefiling delay and laches based on delays in prosecuting an action. The Seventh Circuit vacated. When the state court dismissed the petition there was not yet a firmly established rule in Indiana that laches applies to delays to an already-filed action; precedents dealt only with delays in filing a post-conviction petition. Thompson’s petition is not barred by an adequate and independent state ground.
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