A new trial for Sullivan with justice in mind
Eric Sullivan is still behind bars, but he is no longer a convicted murderer.
That’s because Judge James Weatherford ruled on Friday that Sullivan’s conviction should be overturned on the grounds prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence. What that means is the district attorney’s office did not give Sullivan’s defense lawyer evidence which may have helped free him from his guilty verdict.
In the legal world, this is a major no-no, so much so that it’s cause for a new trial, which Sullivan is scheduled to receive May 17. His 45-year sentence for the murder of Louie Johnson is now a thing of the past.
The Standard holds the laws of our society and the rules of our legal system close to heart. These rules are often in place to protect individual rights and to ensure, to the best of our ability, that innocent people are not wrongly convicted.
It’s better to be safe than sorry when 45 years of a man’s life hang in the balance. And if Sullivan is in fact innocent of wrongdoing, he should be given every chance to prove it.
That said, it’s difficult to see how the testimony of Margie Farley, already convicted for her role in Johnson’s murder, should be considered credible evidence one way or the other. Farley has changed her story to prosecutors about as many times as most of us change our clothes — which is usually every day. To have her words, whatever they may be that day, shape an outcome of a case would be unfortunate.
District Attorney Dale Potter and his office have an excellent case against Sullivan and they believe he is the person who killed Louie Johnson. They have already gotten a conviction once.
Let’s hope justice prevails in Sullivan’s second trial, and the checks and balances of our legal system prove they work.