Alabama governor commutes death sentence as doubts emerge about evidence in murder conviction
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, who was elected in 2018, is among those who have backed Johnson’s call for a new trial. In 2024, Carr wrote in a court filing that the "evidence in this case has unraveled over 20 years."
Carr said that credible alibi witnesses placed Johnson in another area at the time of the shooting. He also said there are multiple reasons to doubt the key prosecution witness, who "claimed she overheard Johnson confess to the murder on a three-way phone call on which she was eavesdropping."
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The woman testified during Johnson's 1998 trial that she was eavesdropping on a phone call when she heard a man she believed was Johnson admitting to the shooting.
She received a $5,000 reward in 2001 for her assistance in the case.
Johnson’s lawyers said that the state withheld evidence of monetary incentive for her testimony.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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