Copy article link A New Orleans man who served more than three decades at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for a rape he did not commit will receive $480,000 in compensation, overcoming opposition from the state Attorney General’s Office and convincing a judge he was factually innocent of the crime . Orleans Parish Criminal District Judge Kimya Holmes ruled last week that Sullivan Walter “needlessly endured imprisonment for 36 years” because of a “miscarriage of justice.” The $480,000 sum equates to $13,000 for every year Walter, now 55, was incarcerated. It also marks a rare feat: The state’s Innocence Compensation Fund, which makes payments to people who were wrongfully convicted and who have been proven innocent, has issued checks to what appears to be fewer that 40 people in the last decade, according to its published annual reports . A jury convicted Walter in 1986 of forcible rape, aggravated burglary and two counts of aggravated crime against nature following the assault of a woman in the Lower Garden District. He was sentenced to 39 years in prison. But nearly two years ago, Walter’s conviction was rendered void by another judge, triggering his release from Angola. At the time, attorneys for the Innocence Project New Orleans argued prior prosecutors withheld evidence — seminal fluid collected from the victims’ clothing — until it was too late to use in Walter’s defense. That fluid, they said, did not match his blood-type antigen. The civil rights division of District Attorney Jason Williams' office supported Walter’s bid for freedom. Its head, Emily Maw, also claimed past prosecutors went as far as to ask a criminologist to “fudge” his forensic findings . However, after Walter filed his petition for compensation, prosecutors with Attorney General Liz Murrill's office, which defends the state against such claims, opposed it. At an April hearing in Holmes’ courtroom, Assistant Attorney General Taylor Gray argued the agency wasn’t bound by the district attorney's assessment of the case. He called the seminal fluid evidence a “case for reasonable doubt,” but short of definitive proof of innocence.

Walter’s attorneys, Chris Murell and David Shanies, said the scientific evidence was indisputable and supported by other troubling facts. For example, at the time of his arrest, Walter’s appearance varied significantly from the description provided by the victim of her attacker. In her written ruling, Holmes said that “it is unimaginable” what the survivor “suffered during her ordeal as the victim of such a horrific crime. This is only compounded by the reality that the true perpetrator of this violation … was neither caught nor prosecuted for this offense.” The Attorney General's Office is appealing Holmes' decision. According to Lester Duhe, a spokesperson for the Attorney General, some 13 to 15 wrongful compensation cases are currently pending across the state. He declined to say how many the office is opposing, citing the ongoing litigation. Murell, Walter's attorney, praised Holmes' decision and admonished the attorney general for appealing it. The appeal "is irresponsibly expending valuable time and resources in an attempt to prevent an innocent man from being compensated for the 36 years he had stolen by this wrongful conviction," he said. Walter is also seeking financial damages in U.S. District Court. In August, he filed a lawsuit against Williams, three past district attorneys, the city and the New Orleans Police Department, for their alleged roles in his wrongful conviction and incarceration. Walter is one of several wrongfully convicted people now suing the district attorney’s office after its civil rights division supported their post-conviction petitions. Walter declined to comment Monday, citing his pending litigation in federal court. Email Jillian Kramer at jillian.kramer@theadvocate.com . Copy article link