Episode 318: The Wrongful Conviction of Toforest Johnson

A pair of friends out at a nightclub had no idea they would be implicated in a murder across town. The shaky word of a scared teenage runaway and the lies of a woman willing to say anything to get paid were enough to put one of the men on death row. After two decades, will justice finally be served? Or will Alabama execute an innocent man? This week’s episode is The Wrongful Conviction of Toforest Johnson.

SOURCES

Learn more and find ways to support: https://www.toforestjohnson.com/

Ear Witness Podcast: https://lavaforgood.com/earwitness/

SOURCES

Alabama death row inmate Toforest Johnson seeks new hearing on conviction, Alabama Reflector: https://alabamareflector.com/2024/11/18/alabama-death-row-inmate-toforest-johnson-seeks-new-hearing-on-conviction/

Alabama inmate Toforest Johnson’s death sentence ‘cannot be justified or allowed to stand,’ says DA, AL.com: https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2024/05/alabama-inmate-toforest-johnsons-death-sentence-cannot-be-justified-or-allowed-to-stand-says-da.html

An illusion of justice, The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/05/an-alabama-man-has-been-death-row-years-he-is-almost-certainly-innocent/

An Innocent Alabama Man on Death Row, Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/28/toforest-johnson-alabama-death-row-innocent/

Articles of Interest: Juror Who Sentenced Toforest Johnson to Death Now Believes He Is Innocent, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/articles-of-interest-juror-who-sentenced-toforest-johnson-to-death-now-believes-he-is-innocent

Court files reveal million-dollar informants, Pittsburgh News Gazette: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2014/04/27/Telling-for-Dollars-Court-files-reveal-DEA-million-dollar-informants/stories/201404270144

Faith leaders, family continue to push for new trial for AL death row inmate Toforest Johnson, WBRC: https://www.wbrc.com/2024/10/14/faith-leaders-family-continue-push-new-trial-al-death-row-inmate-toforest-johnson/

Incentivized Informants, Brady, Ruiz, and Wrongful Imprisonment: Requiring Pre-Plea Disclosure of Material Exculpatory Evidence, University of Washington School of Law - Review: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5029&context=wlr

Jeffco DA files amicus brief supporting new trial for Alabama death row inmate Toforest Johnson, AL.com: https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2020/06/jeffco-da-files-amicus-brief-supporting-new-trial-for-alabama-death-row-inmate-toforest-johnson.html

Jefferson County DA uncertain new trial for Toforest Johnson could go forward, Alabama Reflector: https://alabamareflector.com/2023/12/04/jefferson-county-da-uncertain-new-trial-for-toforest-johnson-could-go-forward/

Man on Alabama’s death row for murder of deputy says he’s innocent, WBRC: https://www.wbrc.com/2019/06/04/man-alabamas-death-row-murder-deputy-says-hes-innocent/

Memorial Page - Deputy Bill Hardy, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: https://www.odmp.org/officer/857-deputy-sheriff-william-gerome-hardy

Op-ed: I voted to send a man to death row. It turns out he is innocent., AL.com: https://www.al.com/opinion/2024/04/op-ed-i-voted-to-send-a-man-to-death-row-it-turns-out-he-is-innocent.html

Q&A: Is an innocent man on Alabama death row? Here’s the latest on Toforest Johnson’s case, WBHM: https://wbhm.org/2024/qa-is-an-innocent-man-on-alabama-death-row-heres-the-latest-on-toforest-johnsons-case/

SCOTUS Brief: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-7337/269127/20230614155625779_T%20Johnson%20BIO%206.14.2023.pdf

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari to Two Death-Sentenced Men with Credible Innocence Claims, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/supreme-court-denies-certiorari-to-two-death-sentenced-men-with-credible-innocence-claims

Toforest Johnson Archives, Innocence Project: https://innocenceproject.org/tags/toforest-johnson/

Toforest Johnson's Innocence Case Highlighted in NPR, Witness to Innocence: https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/single-post/toforest-johnson-s-innocence-case-highlighted-in-npr

Use of Incentivized Witnesses, Innocence Project: https://www.innocenceproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Incentivized-Testimony-Fact-Sheet.pdf