⚖️ The Gutter Report: Justice on Hold — The London Thompson Delay
When silence becomes strategy, justice becomes the victim.
Staten Island, NY — Paul “London” Thompson won’t be in court tomorrow. Not because the motion isn’t filed. Not because he missed a deadline. He’s not there because the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office still hasn’t answered his CPL 440.10 motion — a silence stretching toward a year.
In New York, that’s not just delay. That’s leverage. And when a man’s freedom hangs on paperwork that never arrives, the system starts to look like it’s working exactly how it was designed to: slow for those without power, responsive for those with it.
🧱 London’s Motion, Stuck in Place
London’s case comes out of Supreme Court, Richmond County (Staten Island), with a 2007 judgment under Justice Stephen J. Rooney. He filed a post-conviction motion challenging the fairness of his trial and the conduct of prosecutors — standard grounds under CPL § 440.10.
But the DA’s office hasn’t filed a response. Without that, a hearing can’t be scheduled. The solution is procedural: ask the judge to set a response deadline or deem the motion submitted and decide it without the People. That’s where the case stands — a man waiting in Green Haven, a motion collecting dust, and a DA’s office sitting silent.
📸 | London Thompson (center) photographed inside Green Haven Correctional Facility — still standing strong despite nearly two decades behind bars.
📄 | Official case record from the New York State Unified Court System shows London’s next appearance scheduled for October 20, 2025 — a full year away.
🕴️ The DA in the Crosshairs
Michael E. McMahon, Staten Island’s current District Attorney, is no stranger to headlines. On paper, he modernized the office and launched a Conviction Integrity Review Unit. But that same office has been under fire for the very type of ethical failures that question its integrity.
“Friendly Jurists” & Steering Allegations
In 2017, a New York Post report revealed that Judge Judith McMahon and her husband, DA Michael McMahon, were accused of participating in a scheme to steer cases to “friendly” judges — a move that undermines the foundation of fair trials.
The accusations came from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a longtime Staten Island court employee who claimed the McMahons exploited their influence to shape courtroom outcomes. The allegations never led to charges, but they exposed serious conflicts of interest inside Staten Island’s courthouse — where the DA and a sitting judge not only share a home, but a power structure.
That same whistleblower later claimed retaliation and cover-ups were part of the courthouse culture, describing a system where “speaking up comes with a price.” (NY Post, 2019)
The 2024 “Double-Dipping” Flare-Up
Then came 2024. A New York Post exposé revealed that McMahon and his judge wife were both collecting full-time government salaries while drawing six-figure pensions — a move critics called “legalized greed.”
The backlash was swift. Staten Island residents called it hypocritical — especially coming from a DA’s office that prosecutes working-class people for financial crimes while the boss himself double-dips into taxpayer money.
Combine that with old claims of case-steering, selective prosecution, and political favoritism, and you start to see why public trust in the Richmond County DA’s Office is in freefall.
📸 | Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon — under scrutiny for ethics, influence, and silence.
🏛️ The Courtroom and the Clock
London’s next scheduled court date is set for October 20, 2025, before Judge Marina Cora Mundy in Richmond Supreme Criminal Court.
That’s a full year away — almost to the day. Unless the DA responds or the court intervenes, London will sit another twelve months waiting for the system to move on a motion that’s already long overdue.
It’s a stall tactic dressed as bureaucracy — and it’s the kind of thing that thrives in a courthouse where politics and power share the same corridors.
📍 | Richmond Supreme Criminal Court, Staten Island — where Thompson’s motion remains pending, and where silence echoes louder than justice.
🗺️ The Corruption Context: Where Staten Island Sits
New York has long ranked among the most corrupt states in the country. A Politifact study placed it near the top for political convictions over multiple decades.
Within the city, a Vital City NYC analysis showed Manhattan leading in public corruption cases, but the Eastern District of New York, which includes Staten Island, has consistently stayed high on the list. The difference isn’t that Staten Island is “cleaner” — it’s that fewer people are watching.
And in 2019, another Post article described retaliation against a courthouse whistleblower who tried to expose internal corruption — a reminder that this isn’t isolated. It’s systemic.
🔗 The Correlation
You can’t say one man’s delayed motion proves corruption — but when the DA’s office has been accused of judge shopping, caught double-dipping, and ignoring a year-old motion that could free a man, the silence starts to sound strategic.
That’s not clerical error. That’s institutional rot — a culture where justice moves fast for the powerful and slow for the forgotten.
And for Paul “London” Thompson, that silence has become the sentence.
🎙️ Upcoming Podcast Appearances
London’s case has been gaining renewed media attention. He’s expected to appear on two major podcasts in the coming months:
Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom — a platform dedicated to exposing stories of men and women imprisoned for crimes they insist they didn’t commit.
Joe & Jada Podcast — where he’s set to appear during the Green Haven Second Chance University segment, speaking on rehabilitation, redemption, and reform from inside the walls.
Both interviews are expected to shine new light on the delays, the motion, and the broader injustices surrounding his case.
🖋️ How You Can Help: Write to the Court and to London
The justice system counts on the public staying quiet. Let’s break that.
Anyone who believes in due process and fairness can write directly to the court and to London himself to demand that his motion be addressed.
✉️ Write to the Court
Hon. Stephen J. Rooney (or Assigned Justice)
Supreme Court of the State of New York
Criminal Term – Richmond County (13th Judicial District)
26 Central Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10301
Ask the court to review and rule on People v. Paul Thompson (DIN 07A2094) — a motion under CPL § 440.10 that has gone unanswered for nearly a year. Be respectful, factual, and clear that justice delayed is justice denied.
💌 Write to London Directly
Paul Thompson (DIN 07A2094)
Green Haven Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 4000
Stormville, NY 12582
State of New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
Letters matter. They remind the system that someone’s watching — and they remind the man inside that his story still matters.
Not for clicks — for clarity.
Good morning and Godspeed.
— Elliott Carterr
