Lamar Johnson: Missouri: His legal team asks Gov. Parsons to pardon him, saying: “It’s time for this tragedy to end" and noting that 'even a conviction integrity unit took another look at the case and concluded Johnson is innocent.'..."His attorneys believe the evidence against Lamar Johnson has disintegrated, claiming it was thin to begin with. Johnson was largely convicted on eyewitness testimony, despite the gunman wearing a full ski mask in the dark. Johnson’s lawyers point out the eyewitness was paid $4,000. The eyewitness also admits in a letter that he was pressured and coerced by police and prosecutors."

BACKGROUND: ""Eleven retired Missouri judges, including a former state supreme court justice, contend a St. Louis judge wrongly denied a hearing for a man convicted of murder even though the prosecutor has concluded he is innocent and was framed by local police and prosecutors. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed before the state Supreme Court this week, the retired judges joined a growing chorus of support including 45 elected prosecutors, legal scholars, criminal defense attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union who support the effort by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner to overturn the conviction of Lamar Johnson. Last July, Gardner filed a motion for a new trial in Johnson’s case after her conviction integrity unit re-investigated the 25-year-old murder investigation into the death of Marcus Boyd. The review found that in 1994 and 1995 police fabricated evidence that linked Johnson to the crime. And during Johnson’s trial, the motion for a new trial states, prosecutors failed to disclose the extensive criminal history of a jailhouse informant and more than $4,000 in payments to the only known living eyewitness to the shooting. But Missouri 22nd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Hogan never considered the merits of the motion. Instead, Hogan appointed the Missouri attorney general’s office to also represent the state in the matter, questioning Gardner’s authority to even ask that the case be reopened. That set off a clash between the two prosecutorial agencies, and the attorney general’s office sought to dismiss the motion for a new trial. Hogan ultimately declared she had no authority to consider the motion. On appeal, the appellate court upheld Hogan’s ruling, but the court transferred the case to the Missouri Supreme Court for further review. In its opinion, the appellate court cited the fundamental questions about the criminal justice system the case raised, including the appropriate role of a prosecutor in correcting wrongful convictions.

Johnson, who has served more than 25 years of a lifetime prison term with no opportunity for parole, remains incarcerated. The friend-of-the-court brief submitted this week by the retired judges noted that prosecutor’s obligations include “taking appropriate action when the prosecutor obtains evidence—even after a conviction is final—that casts doubt on the conviction.” From Injustice Watch story by reporter Emily Hoerner.

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STORY: “It’s time for this tragedy to end.” Lamar Johnson’s legal team asks Gov. Parson to pardon him,”  by Reporter Angie Ricono, published by KCTV on August 27, 2021.

GIST: “Lamar Johnson has spent more than 26 years in prison for a Missouri  murder he swears he didn’t do.

A letter sent to Governor Parson on Friday calls on him to end a wrongful conviction based on a 1994 murder in St. Louis.  

Johnson’s attorneys argue the case has become a “political battleground,” pointing out even a conviction integrity unit took another look at the case and concluded Johnson is innocent.

“We believe that if the evidence−and only the evidence−is allowed to speak for itself, you will determine that mercy and justice require that Mr. Johnson be granted a full pardon.... It is time for this tragedy to end,” writes Johnson’s legal team.

His attorneys believe the evidence against Lamar Johnson has disintegrated, claiming it was thin to begin with. Johnson was largely convicted on eyewitness testimony, despite the gunman wearing a full ski mask in the dark. Johnson’s lawyers point out the eyewitness was paid $4,000.

The eyewitness also admits in a letter that he was pressured and coerced by police and prosecutors.

The letter to Parson points out the real killer escaped punishment and the family of the murder victim, Marcus Boyd, never received true justice.

Johnson has remained hopeful he will be freed despite losing court battles which were about legal procedure and not the merits of his case.

“I have to believe god has another plan for me. He’s got to have a different purpose than for me to die here. And I believe eventually the right thing will be done. I have to believe that,” Lamar Johnson said back in 2019.

The filing asks for Parson to consider the length of time Johnson has spent in prison, and points out he’d like to spend time with his aging mother. Johnson also has a daughter.

Johnson is represented by a team of lawyers, which include Lindsay Runnels with Morgan Pilate, Tricia Rojo Bushnell with the Midwest Innocence Project and attorneys from Lathrop and Gage."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.dailyadvent.com/news/73ccba13592e95ec6557e3d1feb0c95a-Its-time-for-this-tragedy-to-end-Lamar-Johnsons-legal-team-asks-Gov-Parson-to-pardon-him

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;

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;