Lawyer Johnson

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Charge:	Second Degree Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	10.83
Year Crime:	1971
Year Convicted:	1974
Year Cleared:	1982
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Suffolk
City of Crime:	Roxbury
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Lawyer Johnson was convicted in 1972 of first-degree murder in the shooting death of James Christian in Roxbury, Massachusetts in December 1971. Johnson's prosecution was based on his identification by a drug addict, Kenny Myers, who was found at the crime scene and claimed to have witnessed the shooting. When shown a photo array Myers identified a man who was in jail at the time of the shooting. Myers then identified Johnson accompanied another man. Although there was no physical evidence or other evidence linking Johnson to the crime, and Myers fingerprints were found on the murder weapon that he admitted he handled and hid, the prosecution relied on Johnson's testimony. After Johnson's conviction by a jury, Johnson was sentenced to death. Johnson's conviction was overturned in 1974, and in 1974 a second jury convicted him of second-degree murder. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison, and his conviction was affirmed on appeal. Christian and all the members of both juries were white. A post-conviction investigation discovered an eyewitness who had been reluctant to come forward. She identified Myers as the sole killer -- the man the prosecution had used as the key witness against Johnson. Johnson filed a post-conviction petition for a new trial that was granted in July 1981. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to retry Lawyer Johnson, and the DA's motion to dismiss his indictment was granted in October 1982, and he was freed. Lawyer Johnsonsued the State of Massachusetts and in 2005 the settled for $275,000 in wrongful imprisonment compensation."
Conviction Caused By:	Perjury by the prosecution's star witness who was the actual killer.
Innocence Proved By:	"Johnson filed a post-conviction petition for a new trial that was granted in July 1981. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to retry Lawyer Johnson, and the DA's motion to dismiss his indictment was granted in October 1982, and he was freed."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$275,000 (State of Massachusetts, 2007)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 131."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Two Cases Illustrate Danger of Mistakes, Mark Mueller (staff), Boston Herald, February 22, 1999"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"Wrongful Murder Convictions in Massachusetts, March 22, 2006"
Information Location 3:	http://www.nodp.org/ma/mass_mistake.html
Information Source 4:	"Johnson, Lawyer v. Commonwealth, SUCV2005-00637 (In 2007 $250,000 wrongful conviction compensation awarded from State of Massachusetts under G.L.C. 258D.)"
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:	"Lawyer Johnson, New England Innocence Project, May 3, 2016"
Information Location 5:	http://www.newenglandinnocence.org/new-england-exonerees/2016/5/3/lawyer-johnson
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Lawyer Johnson

Charge:

Second Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

10.83

Year Crime:

1971

Year Convicted:

1974

Year Cleared:

1982

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Suffolk

City of Crime:

Roxbury

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Perjury by the prosecution's star witness who was the actual killer.

Innocence Proved By:

"Johnson filed a post-conviction petition for a new trial that was granted in July 1981. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to retry Lawyer Johnson, and the DA's motion to dismiss his indictment was granted in October 1982, and he was freed."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$275,000 (State of Massachusetts, 2007)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 131."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Two Cases Illustrate Danger of Mistakes, Mark Mueller (staff), Boston Herald, February 22, 1999"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"Wrongful Murder Convictions in Massachusetts, March 22, 2006"

Information Location 3:

http://www.nodp.org/ma/mass_mistake.html

Information Source 4:

"Johnson, Lawyer v. Commonwealth, SUCV2005-00637 (In 2007 $250,000 wrongful conviction compensation awarded from State of Massachusetts under G.L.C. 258D.)"

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

"Lawyer Johnson, New England Innocence Project, May 3, 2016"

Information Location 5:

http://www.newenglandinnocence.org/new-england-exonerees/2016/5/3/lawyer-johnson

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