After 27 Years in Prison, Missouri Man Gets His Murder Conviction Vacated

A Missouri judge vacated the murder conviction on Tuesday of a man who had served nearly three decades of a life sentence and had long maintained his innocence.

For Lamar Johnson, 49, the path to walking free this week after nearly 28 years behind bars involved three law firms and a nonprofit and required the Missouri State Legislature to pass a law to allow for new hearings — even after two men confessed to the killing. The legal process took 15 years, his lawyer said.

As Judge David C. Mason of the 22nd Judicial Circuit in St. Louis read his ruling, Mr. Johnson closed his eyes and bowed his head. One of his attorneys could be seen gently patting Mr. Johnson on the back as he clasped his hands together and shook his head, video from the local TV station KMOV showed.

“I was elated when he read the words,” Mr. Johnson said in an interview on Wednesday. “I feel very blessed, and I am very blessed.”

After leaving the courthouse in St. Louis on Tuesday, Mr. Johnson said he had gone out to eat with his legal team, munching on salad, fries and chicken. He spent the night at a hotel, where he relished the ability to sprawl in a king-size bed, as he began to process what life after prison looked like.

Next, he said he was looking forward to quality time with family, figuring out how to work smartphones and taking a trip outside of St. Louis for the first time in his life — perhaps to see the ocean. High on his bucket list is also skydiving with a mentor he met while in prison. Mr. Johnson is eager to be part of a major milestone in April: walking his youngest daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

“You name it, I want to give it a go,” he said. “I want to get back to living.”

Mr. Johnson’s case was investigated for years by one of his attorneys, Lindsay Runnels, and the Midwest Innocence Project, a nonprofit that advocates for wrongfully convicted people. They turned the findings over to a team set up by the circuit attorney for St. Louis, Kim Gardner, to review past convictions.

In August, she filed a motion for his release.

“Today the courts righted a wrong,” Ms. Gardner, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We celebrate with Mr. Johnson and his family as he walks out of the courtroom as a free man.”

Missouri’s attorney general, Andrew Bailey, said in a statement that “the court has spoken” and that no further action would be taken in the case.

“Our office defended the rule of law and worked to uphold the original verdict that a jury of Johnson’s peers deemed to be appropriate based on the facts presented at trial,” the Republican-led office said.

In 1995, Mr. Johnson was convicted of killing Marcus Boyd, who was fatally shot on his front porch the year before by two masked men. Police and prosecutors blamed the killing on a dispute over drug money, but Mr. Johnson said he was miles away with his girlfriend at the time.

In the years since his conviction, the only significant witness against Mr. Johnson recanted, and two other men confessed that they alone were responsible for the crime. St. Louis prosecutors said that the case was also marred by perjury and prosecutorial misconduct.

More than 30 elected prosecutors around the country signed legal papers in 2019 to support a new trial for Mr. Johnson. The case then went to the Missouri Supreme Court, which denied the request.

Ultimately, the mounting concerns led the Missouri State Legislature to pass a law in August 2021 that made it easier for prosecutors to get new hearings in cases where there was fresh evidence of a possible wrongful conviction.

“It shouldn’t have taken this long, but as soon as we got into a courtroom, we got the right result,” Ms. Runnels said.

Under state law, Mr. Johnson is likely ineligible for any compensation for wrongful imprisonment, said Ms. Runnels, who added that the Midwest Innocence Project had started a GoFundMe page for Mr. Johnson. She said that he did not have savings or resources after being paid cents on the hour while incarcerated.

Until he can save up to live by himself, Mr. Johnson said he planned to stay with a friend and to search for a job.

“I’ve got to hit the ground and start grinding like everybody else,” he said, adding that he would work anywhere. “All I need is a shot.”