Thomas Martin Thompson

Case record: Thomas Martin Thompson

Background

Thomas Martin Thompson (CDC# C91600), alias “Young, Thomas” and “Thomas Michael Young,” was a White man born on 20 March 1955. He was 26 at the time of the crime. He was convicted of rape and first degree murder with the special circumstance of murder during the commission of rape.

The case involved the murder of Ginger Lorraine Fleischli, a White female age 20.

The co-defendant was David William Leitch (male, CDC# D11422), who was sentenced to 15 years to life.

The offence

On 11 September 1981, Ginger Lorraine Fleischli was killed in Orange County, California. She had been raped and stabbed with a knife five times in and around one ear. Her head was wrapped in duct tape, two towels, a sheet and her jacket. Her body had cuts on her wrists and ankles, and ligature marks indicated she had been bound or handcuffed during the night of the murder. Her shirt and bra were cut in the front and pulled down to her elbows, completely exposing her breasts. She was not wearing any shoes, socks, or underwear. Her jeans were fully zipped but unbuttoned.

After the group left a pizza parlor on 11 September 1981, Tracy Leitch and David Leitch gave Thompson and Ginger a ride to a bar. At about 9:30 p.m., a man named Afshin Kashani joined Ginger and Thompson at the bar. At about 1 a.m., the trio walked to the one-room apartment that Thompson and Leitch shared. While Ginger was gone to get a soda at a nearby liquor store, Thompson told Kashani that he wanted to have sex with Ginger that night. Kashani left the apartment before Ginger returned. When Ginger came back, Thompson raped her. Thompson then killed her after she told him she would report the matter to the police.

Three days after the murder, on the date the body was discovered, Ginger’s wrapped body was found in a shallow grave. The investigation determined that a single-edged knife—later determined to belong to Leitch—had been thrust at least two inches into her ear. It had severed the carotid artery, causing massive bleeding and ultimately her death.

The investigation suggested that Leitch also wanted Ginger killed because he felt that she was interfering with his efforts to reconcile with his ex-wife.

At the time of Ginger’s death, she had lived with Leitch for a time after he separated from Tracy, but at that point she and Tracy had been roommates for two weeks. Ginger had been to the pizza parlor with Tracy Leitch, and with Thompson—known to the party by the alias “Thomas Michael Young”—and Leitch. The offender was living with his crime partner. The two males were planning a money-making scheme together.

A vaginal swab revealed semen consistent with Thompson’s blood type. Ginger’s blood was found in the offender and the crime partner’s apartment on the carpeting, padding and concrete underneath the carpeting. Fibers matching the blanket in which Ginger was wrapped were found in the trunk of Leitch’s car. Additionally, a footprint matching that of Leitch was found next to where Ginger’s body was dumped.

Investigation

Farm workers in a rural area of Irvine, in Orange County, discovered Ginger’s body in a shallow grave after it had been wrapped and secured with a rope. Investigators linked Thompson and Leitch to the murder.

Tracy later told investigators that on the night of the murder Ginger asked: “Do you think David [Leitch] would have Tom [Thompson] kill me?” Tracy also reported that people had told her the offender often carried a gun. She told investigators that “No one really knew Tom but everyone thought he was strange and weird.”

Arrest

After Ginger’s murder, Thompson and Leitch fled to Mexico. Leitch was arrested when he returned to the United States, and Mexican authorities located Thompson.

Trial

Thompson and Leitch were tried separately, by separate juries. The prosecutor and judge were the same at each of the trials.

Thompson was tried first, in 1983.

Prosecution theories and informant testimony

At the preliminary hearing, the prosecution produced three jailhouse informants who testified that Thompson had confessed that he was hired by Leitch to help murder Fleischli and, after having consensual sex with her, Thompson had helped Leitch kill her. The prosecution subsequently rejected this theory and did not call these informants at trial.

At trial, the prosecution introduced a new theory: that Thompson had raped Fleischli and murdered her to cover up the rape. In this version of the murder, Leitch solely helped Thompson dispose of Fleischli’s body. The earlier testimony of the four jailhouse informants was discarded, and two new jailhouse informants testified that Thompson had confessed to the rape and murder.

Defence and other witnesses

Leitch had been arrested more than once for assault and had previously threatened to kill Fleischli, including ten days before she was murdered. Several defense witnesses, including a police officer, testified to Leitch’s violent disposition, threats, and motive for the murder, but were discredited by the prosecution. The prosecution later used these same witnesses to convict David Leitch.

Thompson was found guilty of rape and first degree murder with the special circumstance of murder during the commission of rape.

The record also described that Thompson’s principal exculpatory evidence was co-defendant testimony that he saw Thompson and the victim having consensual sex on the night of the murder.

The record indicated that Thompson maintained innocence and that he did not confess; it also stated that he admitted having consensual sex with the victim, denied rape, and denied killing her. It also recorded “Confession No—he always maintained innocence.”

The record stated that no accomplice testimony was presented and that the only eyewitness testimony was that of David Leitch, which stated that the victim had consensual sex with Thompson. It stated that this eyewitness testimony was withheld by the State and later barred from review by the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.

Forensic evidence

The record described the forensic testimony as “Very questionable evidence of rape presented by coroner and later successfully rebutted at Federal habeas evidentiary hearing.”

Sentencing

Thompson was sentenced to death by Orange County on 17 August 1984.

Leitch was found guilty of second degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life on 19 July 1985.

Appeals

The record described the following appellate history:

• Conviction affirmed in State court.
• Reversed and vacated in US District Ct.
• Reinstated by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals—3 judge panel.
• Reinstated by USSC, not on merits but procedurally.
• Ineffective Assistance? Yes: found by US District Ct. and 9th Circuit En Banc.
• Police Misconduct? No.
• Prosecutorial Misconduct? Yes: found by 9th Circuit En Banc.

Federal review of rape conviction and death sentence

In March 1995, a federal court heard Thompson’s appeal and reversed the rape conviction and the death sentence. The court found that there was no substantial evidence of rape or that Thompson had committed rape. It also found that a competent attorney could have easily rebutted the circumstantial evidence used to convict Thompson and that Thompson’s attorney was incompetent in failing to discredit a notoriously unreliable jailhouse informant.

The court declined to reverse Thompson’s murder conviction because of stringent legal hurdles for overturning convictions, but urged the state not to re-try Thompson on the rape and stated that numerous inconsistencies left the court with an “unsettled feeling.”

In 1996, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals re-instated the rape conviction and the death sentence, finding that the incompetence of Thompson’s attorney would not have made a difference in the verdict.

In May 1997, additional evidence surfaced concerning the rape conviction. The record stated that two years earlier at a parole hearing, David Leitch testified that he had walked in on Thompson and Fleischli having consensual sex the night of the murder. It also stated that Leitch said he gave this information to police in 1981, but he was never called to testify in Thompson’s trial. The parole board failed to pass this information on to Thompson’s attorneys in 1994, although they were required to do so by law.

Based on this new information, Thompson’s attorneys appealed again for a hearing by the entire bench of judges of the Ninth Circuit. Although the court initially denied the request, on 3 August 1997 an eleven-judge panel found the court had erred in denying the request and acted on its own motion to reverse the rape conviction and vacate the death sentence. The record described that the panel disclosed internal clerical and procedural errors that had caused the original request to be mistakenly denied.

The record described that the federal panel found that the prosecution acted egregiously in Thompson’s trial by manipulating witnesses and evidence and argued inconsistent motives, and at Leitch’s trial presented evidence that discredited its own previous case against Thompson. Because Thompson’s murder conviction was linked to the rape conviction, the case was referred back to the District Court to re-examine the validity of the murder conviction.

The State of California challenged the decision. In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision, upholding the rape conviction and death sentence, and based its decision on the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

Outcome

Thompson was executed by lethal injection in California on 14 July 1998.

Execution details

Thompson was taken into San Quentin’s execution chamber at 11:48 p.m. on 13 July 1998. The catheter to deliver the lethal injection was inserted into his arm, and the chamber door was shut at 11:54 p.m. Media witness entered at 11:58 p.m.; the curtains were opened one minute later.

The execution by lethal injection began at 12:01 a.m. on 14 July 1998. Thompson was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m.

Thompson’s last meal included: Alaskan king crab with melted butter, spinach salad, pork fried rice, Mandarin-style spare ribs, hot fudge sundae and a six-pack of Coca Cola.

After the execution Warden Art Calderon read Thompson’s last statement:

“For 17 years the AG has been pursuing the wrong man. In time he will come to know this. I don’t want anyone to avenge my death. Instead I want you to stop killing people. God bless.”

Other details

The record listed the following case identifiers and trial participants:

• Name/DOC #: Thomas Martin Thompson, C-91600
• Address: San Quentin, CA/deceased
• Date of Birth: March 20, 1955
• Race: White
• Date of Crime: September 11, 1981
• Age: 26
• Date Sentenced: August 17, 1984
• Trial: Convicted of first degree murder with rape special circumstance, rape
• Trial Judge: Robert Fitzgerald
• Trial Attorney: Ronald Brower
• Prosecutors: Michael Jacobs
• Trial By Jury: Race of Jurors Unknown/not applicable
• Appellate Counsel: Quin Denvir, Gregory Long, Andrew Love, William Arzbaecher
• Salient issues described in the record included that the rape conviction was the basis for death eligibility and that federal courts overturned the rape conviction and death sentence before the United States Supreme Court reinstated them procedurally under the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

The record also described jailhouse snitch testimony as: “Yes: 4 used at preliminary hearing. These were later discarded and 2 new informants were used with new variation on the so-called confession.”

A statement attributed to Attorney General Dan Lungren was included in the record:

“Let there be no mistake about this, Mr. Thompson is a guilty man,”