criminal defendant. >> michael banks and cooney were pro bono lawyers. >> there was nothing we read that caused us to say, wow, this guy didn't do it. >> i was skeptical of his innocence, but i remember feeling a strong sense from reading john's file that things that happened in john's trial were u.s. fundamentally unfair. >> banks and cooney went to meet their new client. >> the first time i met john thompson was at the louisiana state penitentiary at angola. and frankly, we had a bit of a hard time communicating. >> they didn't know nothing about new orleans. we had a criminal justice system here that locked up more people than our state pane could hold. first thing i asked them was, do you really understand what you're up against? >> we had no idea we would spend a quarter of a century working with john thomson.