On
Valentine’s
Day, Lamar Johnson was released into a new
and strange world - one that he’s looking
forward to making old and familiar. Judge
David C. Mason vacated the life sentence
Johnson was serving for a 1995 murder he did
not commit. The judge ruled that there was
“reliable evidence of actual innocence –
evidence so reliable that it actually passes
the standard of clear and convincing.”
The ruling was a judicial punch in
the gut for the Republican-led state
attorney general’s office which fought
viciously to keep this man behind bars, just
as it has done in other cases.
Johnson’s attorneys didn’t hold
back on karate kicks to the state AG’s
office. In a statement, they rightfully
accused the office of not seeking justice
even in light of “the overwhelming body of
evidence” put together by them and St. Louis
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Johnson’s
attorneys further blasted the state for
being comfortable with Lamar languishing in
prison until his death.
Race is important in criminal
matters, so you should know the race of the
all the parties in this case. Lamar Johnson
is African American as is Judge Mason and
prosecutor Kim Gardner. The Missouri
Attorney General has always been white. This
was a showdown for racial justice.
Gardner attempted to right this
egregious injustice in 2019 after her
office’s investigation of the Johnson case.
The AG’s office argued successfully that
Gardner lacked the authority to seek a new
trial so many years after the case was
decided. The state supreme court cow-towed
to the AG and denied Johnson’s request for a
new trial.
This set into motion a successful
grassroots movement to pass legislation to
close this loophole. We are sick and tired
of the state playing these games with
people’s lives. The new legislation empowers
local prosecutors to re-open innocence
cases, no matter how old the case. Since its
passage, the Kansas City reform prosecutor
used the new law to free Kevin Strickland
who had more than 40 years snatched out of
his life for a triple killing. And now,
Lamar Johnson has been freed on the eastern
side of the state.
Last November, Judge Mason made the
unprecedented decision to allow Lamar
Johnson’s hearing to be live-streamed. The
world got a ring-side seat to the
prosecutorial corruption rampant in the St.
Louis Circuit Attorney’s office during the
years of the crack-cocaine epidemic. This
was a time when racking up convictions by
any means necessary reigned supreme, and the
incestuous relationship between police and
prosecutors went unchecked.
What was learned from the hearing
was that Lamar Johnson was convicted on the
testimony of Greg Elking who repeatedly
testified he felt coerced and “bullied” by
police to finger Johnson. The murder of Boyd
was committed at night in an area with no
streetlights by two assailants in dark
clothes and masks that only had the eyes cut
out.
Further, two men confessed to the
killing of Boyd. Phillip Campbell pleaded
guilty after Johnson’s trial and got a
seven-year sentence. Johnson had received
life without the possibility of parole.
James Howard was never charged with the
murder but admitted his involvement under
oath at the hearing.
During the hearing, Judge Mason had
pointed questions for Joseph Nickerson, the
homicide detective on the case, and
then-assistant prosecutor, Dwight Warren.
Both had to admit they had no evidence
against Johnson and had relied heavily on
Elking’s testimony.
It was abundantly clear from the
testimonies that the police investigation
was shoddy, and that the prosecutor’s office
engaged in unethical and probably illegal
conduct. There were many victims of the
Circuit Attorney’s office during the 1990s
who were either wrongfully convicted or who
received harsh and unreasonable sentences.
The cases from this period need to be
thoroughly reviewed and judiciously
expedited.
The Lamar Johnson case is just the
tip of the iceberg that I describe as the
criminality of the justice system. Millions
of taxpayer dollars are squandered, and many
lives ruined by a system sworn to uphold the
law. It’s no wonder why St. Louis voters
believed the whole damn system is guilty as
hell and were absolutely driven to bring
credibility to the Circuit Attorney’s office
by electing and re-electing Kim Gardner.
Since taking over the prosecutor’s
office, Kim Gardner has faced relentless
attacks - both personally and
professionally. Last week, the
Republican-led House of Representatives
passed legislation to appoint a special
prosecutor in St. Louis when the crime rate
reaches a certain threshold.
