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After 25 years in prison, a court found the pair innocent and released them, ruling that the prosecutors in their case had dictated what their key witness would testify to having seen.
The prosecutors were also accused of having hidden from the all-white jury evidence that would have implicated another suspect.
The two former prisoners are seeking to sue the prosecutors, who argue the immunity that covers their trial conduct should also protect actions they took while investigating the case.
The nine justices seemed sympathetic Wednesday to that argument and appeared worried about the effect of providing an opening for legal actions against prosecutors.
The other case before the highest US court involves a man named Holly Wood, convicted in Alabama in 1994 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, who argues his defense lawyer was incompetent.
The attorney who represented Wood during his sentencing was a recent graduate with no experience in death penalty cases and failed to present evidence that Wood had the mental capacity of a child.
A jury recommended Wood receive the death penalty by a vote of 10 to 2 -- a sentence overturned by a federal court that found Wood's attorney had erred in not mentioning his client had an IQ measuring between 59 and 64.
The sentence was reinstated on appeal, and the Supreme Court then agreed to consider the case.
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The prosecutors were also accused of having hidden from the all-white jury evidence that would have implicated another suspect.
The two former prisoners are seeking to sue the prosecutors, who argue the immunity that covers their trial conduct should also protect actions they took while investigating the case.
The nine justices seemed sympathetic Wednesday to that argument and appeared worried about the effect of providing an opening for legal actions against prosecutors.
The other case before the highest US court involves a man named Holly Wood, convicted in Alabama in 1994 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, who argues his defense lawyer was incompetent.
The attorney who represented Wood during his sentencing was a recent graduate with no experience in death penalty cases and failed to present evidence that Wood had the mental capacity of a child.
A jury recommended Wood receive the death penalty by a vote of 10 to 2 -- a sentence overturned by a federal court that found Wood's attorney had erred in not mentioning his client had an IQ measuring between 59 and 64.
The sentence was reinstated on appeal, and the Supreme Court then agreed to consider the case.
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