Lamar Johnson: Missouri: Part One: It's truly mind-boggling. The evidence of his innocence (including confessions from both of the true perpetrators - is overwhelming; The application for a new trial is supported by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner; (The prosecutor); Dozens of legal ethics scholars and prosecutors have joined in an effort to get Johnson the new murder trial; yet the judge (Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hogan) says no. Something is so very wrong in this picture. HL...."Dozens of legal ethics scholars and prosecutors have joined an effort get a new trial for a man serving a life sentence for murder in Missouri. A brief filed last week by 106 scholars, including law professors from Stanford and Harvard, supports St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner's effort to get a new trial for Lamar Johnson, convicted in a 1994 murder related to a drug dispute. Meanwhile, 34 prosecutors filed a brief in support of the effort to get Johnson a new trial."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY:  (From the brief): "Before the CIU (Conviction Integrity Unit)  became involved (or even existed), Mr. Johnson’s post-conviction counsel discovered significant evidence of Mr. Johnson’s innocence. This evidence included, but was not limited to: (1) confessions from both of the true perpetrators, Campbell and the previously unidentified second perpetrator James Howard, in sworn affidavits and corroborated by multiple other pieces of evidence; (2) a recantation in a sworn affidavit from the single eyewitness who identified Mr. Johnson, as well as his sworn explanation that the police “convinced” him to make an identification after he failed to identify Mr. Johnson from a photo array and a live line-up, because they convinced him that they knew who actually killed Boyd and offered “to help [him] financially and . . . relocate” him and his family; (3) a sworn affidavit from the recanting eyewitness’s ex-wife confirming that they received several payments from the State; (4) sworn affidavits from Mr. Johnson’s alibi witnesses; and (5) evidence strongly suggesting that there was significant impeachment evidence regarding the jailhouse informant who testified at Johnson’s trial regarding purported inculpatory statements made by Johnson in jail, including undisclosed criminal history (for crimes involving dishonesty, as well as others), his past history as jailhouse informant, and assistance provided by the State."

STORY: "Prosecutors, legal scholars back appeal in Lamar Johnson murder conviction," published by The Associated Press on November 2, 2019.

GIST:"Dozens of legal ethics scholars and prosecutors have joined an effort get a new trial for a man serving a life sentence for murder in Missouri. A brief filed last week by 106 scholars, including law professors from Stanford and Harvard, supports St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner's effort to get a new trial for Lamar Johnson, convicted in a 1994 murder related to a drug dispute. Meanwhile, 34 prosecutors filed a brief in support of the effort to get Johnson a new trial.

Gardner alleges that misconduct by police and a former St. Louis prosecutor led to Johnson's conviction, but Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hogan ruled in August that Gardener's claims are inconclusive and she doesn't have the authority to grant Johnson a new trial. Johnson appealed Hogan's ruling. The professors' brief said Gardner "acted well within her ethical, professional, and legal obligations as a minister of justice in taking steps to remedy the wrongful conviction of Lamar Johnson." Before ruling against Gardner's request for a new trial, Hogan appointed the attorney general to represent the state after noting a potential conflict because Gardner is accusing her own office of misconduct by declaring that she believes Johnson was wrongly convicted. Gardner's office, in collaboration with the Midwest Innocence Project, issued a report in July that said police pressured the only eyewitness in the case to implicate Johnson in the shooting death of 25-year-old Marcus L. Boyd, even though two shooters wore masks. The witness recanted his identification in 2003. His co-defendant, Philip Campbell, and another man, James Howard, who confessed to participating in Boyd's death, have signed affidavits saying Johnson was not involved. Campbell was sentenced to a seven-year prison term for voluntary manslaughter. Howard was never charged. Police also promised to help the witness move to St. Louis County and gave him more than $4,000 for moving expenses, according to the report from Gardner's Conviction Integrity Unit. In Hogan's ruling, she said that Gardner's claims of prosecutorial misconduct over the alleged payments are inconclusive. Dwight Warren, the assistant circuit attorney who prosecuted the case, has told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Gardner's motion for a new trial is "nonsense." Warren retired after Gardner's election in 2016. The legal scholars' brief objecting to Hogan's decision said the "the prosecutor's judgment is entitled to respect, not skepticism, because the prosecutor will have to overcome strong institutional biases in favor of defending questionable convictions." The scholars and prosecutors also urged the Missouri Court of Appeals to vacate the order appointing the attorney general and allow Gardner to handle the case. Johnson, whose appeal is pending, told Kansas City television station KCTV in a recent interview that the situation doesn't make sense. "If everybody agrees that I am innocent, then I don't understand why it's so hard to just do the right thing," Johnson said. "Sign the papers so that I can go on with my life, try to pick up the pieces and move on." Johnson's attorney, Matthew Jacober, did not return a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The entire story can be read at:
 https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/prosecutors-legal-scholars-back-appeal-in-lamar-johnson-murder-conviction/63-c767debf-db73-4d2c-a32d-a6801acbbe8f

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;