Death Sentence Reinstated in 1981 Rape-Murder Case

A Laguna Beach man’s death sentence for a 1981 rape-murder was reinstated Wednesday by a federal appeals court, potentially putting him next in line to be executed in California.

A federal judge had overturned Thomas Martin Thompson’s rape conviction, the basis of his capital murder charge, on the grounds of ineffective representation by his lawyer. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals restored the conviction and the death sentence, saying the prosecution’s evidence was so strong that none of the lawyer’s alleged incompetence could have affected the verdict.

“We are satisfied that the jury would not have reached a different outcome either at the guilt or penalty phase had counsel done all the things that Thompson now claims he should have done,” said Judge Robert Beezer in the 3-0 ruling. “We are confident that the jury reached a just result in a fair proceeding.”

Of the 442 prisoners on death row in the state, including more than 140 cases still on appeal in the federal courts, Thompson is the only one whose death sentence has been upheld by the appellate court. At least one other case has been argued before a different panel of the court.

Defense lawyer Gregory A. Long said he would ask for a rehearing before a larger panel of the court.

“We think they’re completely wrong,” he said. “They have definitely overstated the strength of the state’s case.”

He said Thompson had no previous criminal record and no motive for murder and was a far less likely suspect than David Leitch, the former boyfriend of the victim, 20-year-old Ginger Fleischli. Leitch was convicted of second-degree murder in the case.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Holly Wilkens said she was gratified by the ruling. She said Thompson’s court-appointed trial lawyer, Ronald Brower, whose actions were the focus of the appeal, was “one of Orange County’s finest criminal defense lawyers” and had represented Thompson well.

Thompson, now 41, was convicted of raping and fatally stabbing Fleischli, of Mission Viejo, in September 1981. Her partly clad body was found in a grove two days after she was last seen with Thompson. Two sets of footprints were found nearby, one matching Leitch’s shoes, the other unidentified, the court said.

Thompson testified he had consensual sex with Fleischli the night of her death, then passed out and slept until morning. But two jail inmates quoted him as saying he raped Fleischli, then killed her to keep her quiet.