UPDATED with response from Midwest Innocence Project.
ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a new trial for Lamar Johnson, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ man who insists he did not murder another man in 1994.
The case “is not about whether Johnson is innocent or whether there exists a remedy for someone who is innocent and did not receive a constitutionally fair trial,†Justice Zel M. Fischer wrote in the ruling. “This case presents only the issue of whether there is any authority to appeal the dismissal of a motion for a new trial filed decades after a criminal conviction became final.
“No such authority exists; therefore, this court dismisses the appeal,†the ruling stated.
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Johnson, 47, has served 26 years for the 1994 killing of 25-year-old Marcus Boyd on the front porch of a home in the Dutchtown neighborhood of ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner sought a new trial for Johnson in collaboration with his lawyers at the Midwest Innocence Project, saying she believes he was wrongly convicted in 1995 as the result of an unethical prosecutor. Gardner also said detectives coerced the only eyewitness into falsely identifying Johnson as one of Boyd’s killers. Johnson received a life sentence in 1995. The other suspect, Phil Campbell, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in 1996 in exchange for a seven-year prison term. The witness who said Johnson shot Boyd recanted his identification in 2003.
Missouri Chief Justice George W. Draper III said in a concurring opinion that he believes gives an elected prosecutor the authority to seek to overturn a conviction by filing “an independent action seeking relief from the judgment that is no longer equitable.â€
“One’s sense of justice and belief that innocent people should not be imprisoned for crimes they did not commit requires there to be some mechanism for the state to redress an error it helped create,†Draper wrote.
Judge Laura Denvir Stith said in a concurring opinion that Johnson still has the right to petition for habeas corpus based on newly discovered evidence in the circuit where he is being incarcerated. Johnson is at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Cole County.
In a statement, the Midwest Innocence Project said the ruling "highlights the remarkable gaps in the criminal legal system that allow an innocent person to languish in prison year after year even when the evidence of his innocence is clear. This is not justice." The nonprofit pledged to continuing fighting for Johnson's release.
Johnson’s appeal has generated widespread attention, with nearly 200 prosecutors, legal scholars and retired judges across Missouri and the nation filing court briefs weighing in on the limits of prosecutorial power to overturn convictions. Johnson’s case was among the first taken up by Gardner’s new Conviction Integrity Unit. Johnson had lost state and federal appeals three times but picked up momentum through the efforts of his lawyers, Gardner’s office and support from dozens of legal scholars and prosecutors.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office argued last year that ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Court where Johnson was convicted lacked the authority to grant Johnson a new trial and that court rules prohibit Gardner from seeking a new trial on Johnson’s behalf decades later.
Schmitt’s spokesman Chris Nuelle provided a statement saying “the law does not allow the Circuit Attorney’s Office to file a motion for a new trial almost 25 years too late. The Circuit Court brought our office in not to comment on innocence or guilt, but to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and the proper procedure is followed, and that’s exactly what we did.â€
It’s unclear if Gardner will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her office calling the high court’s ruling “deeply disappointing.â€
“This case is about the duty of a prosecutor to be a true minister of justice,†Gardner’s statement said. “In fact, the prosecutor’s duty to pursue justice does not stop when a conviction is secured. We will continue to seek justice in this case, and will use every tool within the power of the Office of the Circuit Attorney to ensure the pursuit of justice for individuals where there is evidence of a wrongful conviction.â€
Johnson did not testify at his 1995 trial. Johnson’s then-girlfriend testified he spent the evening with her and friends at a home at 3907 Lafayette Avenue — three miles from the homicide at 3910 Louisiana Avenue. She said Johnson left the house on Lafayette around 9 p.m. for about five minutes to meet someone at a nearby liquor store. She acknowledged on cross-examination he could have been gone longer but no more than 10 minutes.
Gardner also alleged that the prosecutor in Johnson’s case knowingly presented false police testimony, hid more than $4,000 in payments to a key witness for his testimony and failed to disclose the criminal history of a city jail inmate who claimed he overheard Johnson discussing Boyd’s murder with another inmate.
The former prosecutor and the detective who investigated the case have rejected Gardner’s allegations and say they believe Johnson is Boyd’s killer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Joel Currier • 314-340-8132 @joelcurrier on Twitter jcurrier@post-dispatch.com