ST. LOUIS — The final hearing has been set that could vacate the guilty sentence of a man who prosecutors and civil rights groups say has innocently sat in jail for nearly 30 years.
The freedom of Lamar Johnson will be based on whether Circuit Judge David Mason determines there is evidence of Johnson’s innocence or if there was a constitutional error at trial during a hearing set for the week of Dec. 12.
Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1995 after being found guilty of the murder of a man in Dutchtown in 1994. In 2019, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s Force Investigative Unit outlined misconduct of the lead detective in Johnson’s conviction in a 67-page report. Over the years, Johnson’s case has since attracted nationwide support and debate from legal scholars.
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Judge Mason will preside over the hearing after a request to switch judges was granted earlier this month.
Before the switch, the case would have been heard by Judge Elizabeth Hogan, who when Gardner filed a motion for a new trial to free Johnson in 2019 said she felt the circuit attorney had a conflict of interest because she accused a former assistant circuit attorney of misconduct in Johnson’s case.
Judge Hogan denied the motion, then appointed Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt to represent the state, who vigorously argued against Johnson’s release, citing recanted testimonies of the men who testified against Johnson as “incredible†and “contradictory.â€
Ultimately, the Missouri Supreme Court denied in 2021 Gardner’s appeal to Hogan’s denial for a new trial, ruling the circuit attorney lacked the authority to file a motion for a new trial for Johnson.
This, along with other cases similar to Johnson’s, such as Christopher Dunn, prompted legislators to create a new law. Last year, after over 40 years in prison, Kevin Strickland was the first man freed through the law via the motion filed by a Kansas City prosecutor.
Schmitt can also make his debut at the December hearing where he’ll be able to question witnesses and make arguments.
Gardner filed the motion to free Johnson last month during the week of the one-year anniversary of when the law went into effect.