Criminal Law
A Missouri Wrongful Conviction Case May Go to Trial
A man who has spent more than two decades in prison for a murder he claims he didn’t commit may get a new trial as early as this summer.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green discussed potential trial dates for Lamar Johnson at a hearing Monday in which he indicated that he was “unlikely” to grant a state motion that would deny the 47-year-old his latest bid for freedom. Green is set to rule in late February.
Johnson was convicted in the 1994 killing of 25-year-old Marcus Boyd in an alleged drug dispute. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who has sought a new trial, agreed with his alibi that he was with his girlfriend miles away when Boyd was killed.
