Judge won't dismiss case against Oklahoma City man whose murder conviction was overturned

Jurors convicted Billy Michael Thompson in March of first-degree murder in the Aug. 17, 2010, stabbing death of Manuel Leon Sanchez, 21.

The panel also convicted Thompson, 26, of assault and battery in the stabbing of Maxwell M. McIntyre, 19.

Defense attorneys who filed a motion to dismiss the case argued that subjecting Thompson to another trial would violate his constitutional right to fairness because two ex-prosecutors knowingly lied to gain a conviction.

“They knew Mr. Thompson had a shot to walk out of here … that his self-defense claim had merit,” Shea Smith, Oklahoma County assistant public defender, told District Judge Donald L. Deason.

Deason denied the request, saying the remedy “is to have a new trial.”

The judge vacated the conviction and set a new trial date after prosecutors in the case were found to have withheld critical evidence from Thompson's attorneys.

Assistant District Attorneys Pam Kimbrough and Stephanie Miller were fired by their boss, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, after Prater learned they withheld a witness statement that could have been favorable to Thompson's case.