Man spent nearly 30 years on death row. Now governor spares his life amid growing doubts about his guilt
Toforest Johnson was convicted of the 1995 murder of a sheriff’s deputy
NEED TO KNOW
- Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, who was convicted of a 1995 murder
- Johnson has long maintained his innocence, saying he was in a different part of Birmingham during the killing
- The local district attorney has called for Johnson to receive a new trial
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of a man who spent nearly three decades on death row, even as prosecutors have raised doubts about his murder conviction.
Toforest Johnson has long maintained his innocence despite having been found guilty of the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy, the Associated Press reported.
Per the AP, current Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr has signaled his support for a new trial in Johnson’s case, writing in a court filing that evidence has “unraveled.”
Carr previously said Johnson has credible alibi witnesses, the AP reported.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Gov. Ivey commuted Johnson’s sentence to life in prison, AL.com reported.
“When presented with Mr. Johnson’s case, I had concerns there was not enough direct evidence to carry out the most serious punishment, death,” Ivey said in a reported statement. “My decision is not a determination of innocence, but a recognition that the circumstances of this case justify commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment, without possibility of parole.”
Johnson has said he was on the other side of town when Hardy was shot in the head while working security at a hotel in Birmingham, according to the AP.
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AL.com reported that Johnson’s conviction relied in part on testimony from a woman who said she overheard someone she knew only as “Toforest” confess to the killing during a telephone call.
According to the paper, the woman, who received a $5,000 reward, did not know Johnson. Johnson’s attorneys reportedly said the state withheld the fact that the witness received a monetary reward.
“Toforest Johnson is innocent,” Johnson’s attorney Ty Alper told the AP. “Now it is up to the courts to overturn his conviction and grant him a new trial. We will keep fighting until he is home with his family.”
