Ed Johnson

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Death and Lynched
Years Imprisoned:	0.2
Year Crime:	1906
Year Convicted:	1906
Year Cleared:	2000
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Tennessee
County or Region of Crime:	Hamilton
City of Crime:	Chattanooga
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Posthumously
Summary of Case:	"Wrongly convicted by an all-white jury in February 1906 of raping a white woman in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The woman was raped, but she did not positively identify Ed Johnson. Consequently, Johnson's conviction was apparently based on the racial outrage at the mere accusation he had raped a white woman. Johnson was sentenced to death, After Johnson's conviction was affirmed by the Tennessee Supreme Court, he filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. After it was denied he filed a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, on the basis that his trial did not conform with due process of law. The Supreme Court accepted Johnson's case for review and issued a stay. The county sheriff and judge did nothing to diffuse local outrage at what was viewed as meddling by the Supreme Court. A large mob seized Johnson from the county jail on March 19, 1906, and lynched him. Johnson's last words from the bridge where he was lynched are credited as being, "God Bless you all. I am an innocent man.'' On February 25, 2000, Johnson's conviction was posthumously set aside and his death sentence was vacated by Hamilton County Criminal Judge Doug Meyer on the basis there ."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 25, 2000, Johnson's conviction was posthumously set aside and his death sentence was vacated by Hamilton County Criminal Judge Doug Meyer."
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Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Contempt of Court - The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that launched a hundred years of federalism, Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr., Anchor Books (NY), 1999"
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Information Source 2:	"1906 Conviction Overturned, By Amy Green (AP writer), Associated Press, February 25, 2000"
Information Location 2:	http://www.truthinjustice.org/1906.htm
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Book About Case:	"Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that launched a hundred years of federalism, Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr., Anchor Books (NY), 1999"
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Ed Johnson

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death and Lynched

Years Imprisoned:

0.2

Year Crime:

1906

Year Convicted:

1906

Year Cleared:

2000

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Tennessee

County or Region of Crime:

Hamilton

City of Crime:

Chattanooga

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Posthumously

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 25, 2000, Johnson's conviction was posthumously set aside and his death sentence was vacated by Hamilton County Criminal Judge Doug Meyer."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Contempt of Court - The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that launched a hundred years of federalism, Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr., Anchor Books (NY), 1999"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"1906 Conviction Overturned, By Amy Green (AP writer), Associated Press, February 25, 2000"

Information Location 2:

http://www.truthinjustice.org/1906.htm

Information Source 3:

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Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that launched a hundred years of federalism, Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr., Anchor Books (NY), 1999"

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: