CLIENT

Lamar Johnson

  • Exonerated: February 14, 2023
  • County of Conviction: St Louis City, MO
  • Convicted of: First degree murder
  • Sentence: Life without parole
  • Years Served: 27+

Lamar Johnson was freed on February 14, 2023, after 27 years in prison. 

In the state of Missouri, when is innocence enough to earn a man’s freedom?   

In 2018, the St. Louis conviction integrity unit found a plethora of reasons Lamar deserves a new trial, at the least, if not his unequivocal freedom: 

 

  • Undisclosed payments by police to a key eyewitness
  • Credible confessions from two other men 
  • Prosecutor’s failure to disclose a jailhouse informant’s criminal history
  • Police officers lying and hiding exculpatory evidence

 

After St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner filed a motion for a new trial in July 2019, the local judge said prosecutors don’t have the authority to retroactively correct a wrongful conviction. 

 

Hallmarks of wrongful conviction present in this case: 

 

  • Rampant official and prosecutorial misconduct 
  • Flawed eyewitness testimony
  • The use of jailhouse informants to secure conviction

 

Media and News Coverage: 

 

Further reading on Lamar’s case: