A man is released after serving 28 years behind bars for an offence he didn’t commit

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On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, a Missouri judge overturned Lamar Johnson’s murder conviction after finding “reliable evidence of actual innocence” after spending nearly 28 years of a life sentence. Johnson had been behind bars for life after being found guilty in 1994 of killing his companion, 25-year-old Marcus Boyd. Johnson has remained guiltless ever since pleading not guilty. His lawyers claim he wants to reconnect with his family and enjoy things he was deprived of while spending most of his adult life behind bars.

According to Missouri judge David Mason, there is “evidence so reliable” that Johnson is innocent “that meets the bar for being compelling and clear”. After an investigation by her office, She was persuaded that Johnson was speaking the truth by the Innocence Project. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner filed a motion in August asking for his release. She praised the decision.

The state attorney general’s office, which Republicans run, pushed to keep Johnson behind bars. After the verdict, they won’t do anything further regarding the matter. Madeline Sieren, a spokeswoman for the agency, stated in an email that the office fought to uphold the initial verdict that a jury of Johnson’s peers decided was appropriate in light of the evidence provided at trial and that the office supported the rule of law.

After the hearing, the state attorney general’s office came under fire from Johnson’s lawyers, who claimed the office “never gave up asserting Lamar was guilty, and it was convenient for him to rot in jail.” According to reports, Johnson will not be entitled to compensation because DNA was not a factor in the case.

Johnson was freed after a crucial witness changed his story. Another prisoner admitted that he, not Johnson, was responsible for the murder. Boyd owed one of his pals money from selling drugs. Hence, James Howard and Phil Campbell decided to rob him, according to testimony given at the court by James Howard, who is currently serving a life sentence for murder three years after Boyd was slain. Campbell was sentenced to seven years in jail following the admission of guilt to a lesser offence.

Johnson said in court that he was with his girlfriend the night of the incident, save for a brief period when he departed from a friend’s home to hawk narcotics on a corner a few streets from the murder site. Johnson’s former girlfriend, Erika Barrow, testified that she was with him the entire evening aside from the five minutes he spent alone making the narcotics trade. She asserted that given the distance between Boyd’s house and the friend’s residence, Johnson would not have been able to drive there and return in five minutes.

On February 14, 2023, Lamar Johnson was released after nearly 30 years. Johnson maintained his innocence and said he was with his girlfriend the night of the murder, but he was nevertheless convicted guilty of the man’s death. After a key witness changed his story and another prisoner admitted that he, not Johnson, had committed the murder, Johnson was released. Johnson’s attorneys criticized the state attorney general’s office after the hearing, asserting that it “never stopped claiming Lamar was guilty and was content to have him languish and die in prison.”