ST. LOUIS — ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were like three longtime buddies sitting down for chow time in prison.
Except none of them was wearing a gray or orange jumpsuit. There were no guards. And the food — Larry Callanan called it “real food.†Wings and fries. And some rolled-up corned beef contraption that Lamar Johnson was dipping in sauce.
“I don’t know what this is,†Johnson said Tuesday night, sitting in the back of Maggie O’Brien’s, which was packed with St. Louis Blues fans.
But he ate it, and he smiled, and he dug in for more.
Across from Johnson was Ricky Kidd, his old Jefferson City cellmate. The three men were all wrongfully convicted of murders they did not commit. They spent countless hours together in the prison law library to research their cases, sending letters to reporters and lawyers and trying to get anybody to pay attention.
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When you’re in prison and you can’t get anybody to listen to you, it’s like “you get buried underneath the rubble,†Kidd said.
Kidd was the first to get exonerated, in 2019, with the help of the Midwest Innocence Project, which intervened in all three cases. Callanan was next, in 2020. And then, on Valentine’s Day 2023, it was Johnson’s turn for the courts to show him some love.
Circuit Court Judge David Mason found him of the 1994 killing of Marcus Boyd, which put him in prison for 28 years. Johnson was all smiles Tuesday night, celebrating with his attorneys and his close friends. But he’s also experiencing a roller-coaster of emotions about what happened to him over the past three decades, and what it’s going to take to begin a new life on the outside.
One of the reasons Johnson’s case attracted nationwide attention was the effort by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt — now a U.S. senator — to keep Johnson in prison despite overwhelming evidence of innocence.
That evidence was similar to the cases of Kidd and Callanan, and so many of the 3,374 other names that have been added to the since 1989.
There was shoddy police work with a rush to judgment and a refusal to look at other suspects. There were bad identifications in photo and video lineups that prosecutors never should have presented to juries. There were unethical uses of jailhouse snitches. In Johnson’s case, the real killers of Boyd had confessed years earlier.
Every time new evidence piled up to back Johnson’s never-wavering claims of innocence, Schmitt would wave it off as too little, too late. The justice system loves its jailhouse snitches when it’s putting people in prison, but not so much when they come forward with tales of innocence.
“Winning at all costs was all that mattered to them,†Johnson said of the attorney general’s office.
That changed when Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was finally allowed to present the evidence in a hearing. Mason, hearing all of that evidence, recognized that Johnson’s trial was a sham and an embarrassment to the court system.
Through it all, Johnson had Kidd and Callanan, and the two men never forgot their friend. They sat in Mason’s courtroom day after day during the December hearing. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were there again Tuesday to hear the decision.
“I was more nervous waiting on the verdict in Lamar’s case than I was in my own,†Callanan said.
Now the two men will help their friend navigate life on the outside — with the freedom of not having to ask permission to do anything, but also with the challenges of finding work and purpose and reconnecting with family.
“It’s just like going inside a prison for the first time,†Johnson said. “You have fear of the unknown. Now I have to try to make a life.â€
He paused with the look of a man who has been to hell and back and knows he is up for the next challenge. “I can survive.â€
Lamar Johnson walking out of court after Judge David Mason  vacated Johnson’s murder conviction, ruling he was wrongly imprisoned nearly 30 years ago. Â
Circuit Court Judge David Mason frees Lamar Johnson and declares him innocent.Â
St. Louis Circuit Court Judge David Mason mulls ruling in innocence case.Â
A week-long hearing will determine the fate of Johnson's 1995 murder conviction in St. Louis.Â
Photos: Wrongfully convicted inmate Lamar Johnson set free after serving 28 years for murder he did not commit

Lamar Johnson prepares to leave the building shortly after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison after a wrongful murder conviction.

Lamar Johnson smiles at his mother Mae Johnson as she walks up to him during a press conference after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Kierra Barrow, the daughter of Lamar Johnson, waits to meet her dad after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, outside the St. Louis City Justice Center. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Mae Johnson, the mother of Lamar Johnson, waits to meet her son after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2023, outside the St. Louis City Justice Center. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Lamar Johnson waves goodbye to friends, family and supporters after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, outside the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Lamar Johnson, center and his attorneys react on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated his murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Lamar Johnson takes a moment to collect himself on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated his murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Kiera Barrow, left, daughter of Lamar Johnson, reacts with her fiancé Terence Monroe on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated Johnson's murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Lamar Johnson, left, embraces St. Louis Prosecutor Kim Garner on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated his murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Lamar Johnson, center, smiles as he and his attorneys react on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated his murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Lamar Johnson, center looks toward friends and family members as his attorneys celebrate on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated his murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Lamar Johnson, right, gets a congratulatory pat on the shoulder from St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated Johnson's murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd. Photo by Christian Gooden, POOL

Erika Barrow, a former girlfriend of Lamar Johnson who testified on his behalf, reacts after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated Johnson's murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023.

Lamar Johnson, center, embraces one of his attorneys on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated Johnson's murder conviction during a hearing at Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd.

Lamar Johnson, center, and his attorneys react as they listen to St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason read his decision to vacate Johnson's murder conviction, at the Mel Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. Johnson had been serving a life sentence after being wrongfully convicted in 1995 of killing Marcus Boyd.

Lamar Johnson greets the press after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Lamar Johnson stands alongside St. Louis City Attorney Kim Gardner after after a judge vacated Lamar Johnson's murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Mae Johnson, the mother of Lamar Johnson, far left, and Johnson's former girlfriend Erika Barrow, second from left, watch as Johnson walks by during a press conference after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Lamar Johnson walks to his ride after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, outside the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction.Â

Lamar Johnson walks to his ride after a judge vacated Johnson's murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, outside the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Lamar Johnson greets the press after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Lamar Johnson greets the press after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in the lobby of the Carnahan Courthouse. Johnson spent nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com