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Michael Thompson

Other Mississippi exonerations
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On December 2, 2013, Michael Thompson was appointed County Administrator of Tunica County, Mississippi and found himself dealing with a serious budget deficit in the county. On January 30, 2014, Thompson, 36, attempted to institute a ten percent county-wide budget cut, which would garner the unwanted attention of Sheriff Calvin Hamp.

With the help of Captain James Jones, Hamp began investigating Thompson. On February 1, 2014, Hamp visited Thompson in his office, where they had a disagreement over what authority Thompson had over the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office. Then, on February 10, 2014, Hamp visited Thompson’s office again to get a purchasing order. Hamp became confrontational and aggressive towards Thompson over the budget cuts. Sometime after, Hamp would hold a meeting with several deputies and employees of his office where he told them that he was going to “get” Thompson.

Two days later, on February 12, 2014, Thompson was a passenger in a gray Ford Explorer driven by Alex T. Wiley, the county comptroller, when they were pulled over by Captain Jones for improper driving. Jones ran Wiley’s license, and, although Wiley’s license was “valid but eligible for reinstatement,” Jones told Thompson that he needed to take control of the vehicle.

Jones allowed Thompson to drive for a short distance up the highway before stopping the vehicle again. Lieutenant Lee Clay, Commander Cedric Davis, and Officer Michael Strickland arrived at the scene in an unmarked vehicle. Jones ran Thompson’s license and discovered it was suspended. Thompson was then arrested for driving with a suspended license and placed in the Tunica County Jail. After Thompson was arrested and booked in the county jail, deputies told him that he could not receive bail because he had an “outstanding arrest warrant in Montgomery County.”

At the jail, Thompson complained of physical pain. An ambulance was called, and Thompson was taken to Baptist Desoto Hospital by Lieutenant Dennis Hopson and another investigator to be treated for high blood pressure.

On February 14, 2014, the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release announcing that Thompson had been arrested for driving with a suspended license, something not typically done for a traffic violation. According to the news release, Thompson was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Montgomery County, Mississippi, for failing to appear in court for a speeding ticket. However, according to Montgomery County Clerk, Karen Carter, deputies were told that there was no warrant.

On July 18, 2014, Thompson, represented by Scott W. Colom went to trial in Tunica County Justice Court for driving with a suspended license. Judge Joe Brown was presiding.

Jones testified that he encountered Wiley and Thompson on February 12, 2014, while conducting traffic patrol on Highway 61 North. He said he saw a gray Ford Explorer swerving over the yellow line and making illegal lane changes. Jones said that he did not know if the person in the vehicle was driving under the influence or needed help, so he pulled the car over at an intersection located near the Casino Strip and the highway. He testified that Wiley was the driver at the time of the stop, and Thompson was in the passenger's seat. When he ran Wiley’s license, the license came back as “valid, eligible for reinstatement.” Jones said he did not understand what this meant, and he contacted a dispatcher for clarification.

When the dispatcher was not able to give Jones a clear answer, he asked Wiley if he knew what the issue was with his license. According to Jones, Wiley responded that he had an outstanding ticket from Washington, D.C., and did not know if his license was still valid. Jones testified that after a minute of waiting, he asked Thompson if he had a valid driver’s license. Jones said that Thompson confirmed that his license was valid. He told Thompson to drive the vehicle since Wiley’s license was not confirmed to be valid. Jones testified that Thompson got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle and drove away with Wiley in the passenger seat.

Jones said that he had a suspicion that Thompson was lying to him about having a valid driver’s license. He testified that the possibility that Thompson was lying caused him to make a second stop of the vehicle at a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant parking lot at the “intersection of Highway 61 and Casino Way.” Jones asked Thompson to leave his vehicle, then he checked his license. Jones testified that Thompson’s license was suspended, and he arrested Thompson and brought him to the Sheriff's office.

The prosecution also introduced Thompson's previous driving history, which showed that his license had been suspended on January 21, 2014, for failure to show up at Montgomery County Court for a mandatory court hearing on a traffic ticket.

During the cross-examination, Jones testified that at the time of the traffic stop, he was in an unmarked vehicle. Jones acknowledged that he understood that Thompson had control over the budget of his supervisor, Sheriff Hamp, but Brown prohibited this line of questioning, saying it was irrelevant. Jones testified that shortly after Thompson drove away from the traffic stop, he was informed that Wiley’s license was valid by the Tunica dispatcher, Debra Ellington.

Colom asked Jones about his reason for believing that Thompson was deceiving him. Jones testified that before the date of the incident, the Sheriff's office had investigated Thompson and Wiley’s business dealings. During the investigation, they learned of Thompson’s suspended license for not paying a ticket in Montgomery County.

Jones also admitted that he knew before the traffic stop that Thompson had a suspended license but still asked him to drive the vehicle. Jones said that he did not know if there was an active arrest warrant for Thompson but that he was told on the day of the traffic stop by Hamp that Thompson may have had an arrest warrant from Montgomery County. Jones testified that Thompson did not get any other tickets for his February 12 arrest other than for driving with a suspended license, and he did not break any other laws while on the road.

To confirm the date that Montgomery County had issued a ticket to Thompson, the prosecution called Karen Carter, the Montgomery County Justice Court clerk. Under questioning by Judge Brown, Carter testified that the ticket had been written on July 12, 2013, and Thompson’s license had been suspended around August 10, 2013.

Colom called Sheriff Hamp to testify and questioned him about Thompson’s suspended license. Hamp said that he found out the morning of the incident that Thompson’s license was suspended. He said he knew that Thompson's license was suspended before Captain Jones stopped him. Hamp testified that “every six months we check every person that operate[s] a county vehicle in Tunica County … if they have a warrant … we will make an arrest and transport him to whatever agency there is so, yes, I did know.”

On July 18, 2014, Judge Brown convicted Thompson for driving with a suspended license.

Thompson appealed to the Circuit Court of Tunica County. In Mississippi, Circuit Courts consider appeals de novo, meaning that judges assess both the facts and law of the case again. This one-day trial took place on November 10, 2014, before Judge Johnnie E. Walls, Jr. Sheriff Hamp again testified. He was asked whether a press release had been issued about Thompson’s arrest. He testified that neither he nor any other deputy of the Tunica County Sheriff’s Department had issued a press release after Thompson was booked in jail.

However, when former Captain Jones testified again, he said the exact opposite had occurred. He said the Sheriff’s Department had in fact issued a press release announcing Thompson’s arrest within a few days of the arrest, although he did not know whether it was Sheriff Hamp or another high-ranking deputy who had spoken to the public.

With regard to the traffic stop, Jones testified that he and the Sheriff had already known that Thompson’s license was suspended prior to the stop and that he knew he was specifically pulling over Wiley’s county vehicle. Colom also asked Jones why he had not checked if Thompson’s license was valid prior to requesting that he drive. Jones conceded that he had violated the Sheriff’s Department policy, which stated that this was a mandatory procedure. Jones admitted that he already knew Thompson’s license was suspended, yet he told him to drive Wiley’s vehicle. He also admitted that he did not have probable cause to pull over the vehicle over the second time because he did not observe Thompson commit any crimes, but did so based on a “suspicion” that Thompson was lying.

Colom also asked Jones why Thompson was arrested at the scene when the Sheriff’s Department policy stated that this was not required for drivers with suspended licenses. Jones said that he did this because he had been informed of Thompson’s arrest warrant earlier that day by Sheriff Hamp, prior to the traffic stop. This arrest warrant, however, lacked a judge’s signature, rendering the warrant invalid.

Karen Carter again testified. This time she testified that Sheriff Hamp had called her in the afternoon, a few hours prior to the incident, to confirm that Thompson had a suspended license.

In closing argument, Colom argued that Thompson was the victim of unlawful entrapment by the Sheriff’s Department. He said that the incident was a planned intervention that deviated from standard police procedure.

At the end of the trial, Judge Walls dismissed all charges against Thompson.

On December 24, 2014, Thompson filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi against Hamp, Jones, and three other “unknown defendants” in federal court because of the “abuse of the legal process” he faced. He filed claims for unlawful arrest, unlawful stop and seizure, conspiracy, First Amendment retaliatory arrest, and state law claims for “abuse of process, false arrest, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy.” Thompson also claimed that the defendants had created a scheme “...for the purpose of embarrassing him and to intimidate him in regards to the decisions he made as county administrator.”

On April 14, 2015, Officer Strickland signed an affidavit stating that on February 12, 2014, Jones had told him he planned to arrest someone later that night and would need Strickland’s assistance. Jones called Strickland around 6:00 pm, told him he was following the vehicle that he wanted to stop, and needed his assistance. Strickland witnessed Jones pull Wiley over and tell Thompson to drive the vehicle. Jones then arrested Thompson for driving with a suspended license. He believed that Jones had an intent to arrest Thompson based on his phone call with him earlier that day.

On February 17, 2017, Judge Neal B. Biggers, Jr dismissed all the claims, except for those alleging unlawful arrest and unlawful stop and seizure. Those claims proceeded to trial where the defendants were found liable, and a jury awarded Thompson $50,000 in damages.

– Sophia M. Arredondo, Matthew D. Castro, Lesley D. Mercado, Isabella S. Ortiz, & Audrey J. Tang

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Posting Date: 6/27/2024
Last Updated: 6/27/2024
State:Mississippi
County:Tunica
Most Serious Crime:Traffic Offense
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2014
Convicted:2014
Exonerated:2014
Sentence:Unknown
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:36
Contributing Factors:Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No