ST. LOUIS — A judge determined Lamar Johnson should be exonerated for the murder of Marcus Boyd in a decision handed down Tuesday.
Judge David Mason determined Johnson's fate after a 5-day hearing in December and 60 days of deliberation.
"This combined testimony amounts to clear and convincing evidence that Lamar Johnson is innocent and did not commit the murder of Marcus Boyd either individually or acting with another," the court document said.
Johnson walked free after he was processed out at the courthouse. Beaming, he walked up to reporters in the courthouse lobby about two hours after the ruling and thanked everyone who worked on his case, as well as the judge.
“This is unbelievable,” said Johnson, who didn't take any questions.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who filed a motion in August seeking Johnson's release after an investigation her office conducted with help from the Innocence Project convinced her he was telling the truth, applauded the ruling.
“Mr. Lamar Johnson. Thank you. You’re free. ” she said before the gathered press.
Gardner said this is a time for Johnson to spend with his attorneys and family.
“This is Valentine’s Day and this is historical. This is an amazing day. We showed that the City of St. Louis and the State of Missouri is about justice and not defending the finality of a conviction,” she said.
Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Boyd, after Boyd was shot to death on the front porch of his home by two men wearing ski masks on Oct. 30, 1994. While Johnson was sent away for life, a second suspect, Phil Campbell, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in exchange for a seven-year prison term. Campbell is deceased.
Johnson is now 49 and has spent nearly 28 years in prison after his murder conviction in 1995.
Special Prosecutor Jonathan Potts said they spent a year investigating this case before filing a motion in august of last year to get the conviction thrown out.
"We actually brought the true murderer out and he confessed in the open courtroom and admitted that he, and not Lamar Johnson, had actually killed the victim," Potts said.
5 On Your Side's Laura Barczewski asked Potts, "Do you think the justice system truly wronged him in this case?"
Potts said, "It absolutely did. This case, you know, on one level is about Lamar, and it's about making sure that an innocent person doesn't spend the rest of their life in prison. But it's also about the justice system being accountable for its own mistakes."
Activist Reverend Darryl Gray said this is truly liberating.
"I mean, Lamar, I talked to him, I think it was last week, and I told him that he is the answer to someone's prayer," Gray said.
Gray said this result is encouraging and gives him hope for all of the other innocent incarcerated people.
"This shows that that the legislation can work, that the process can work, that justice can work. If you apply it fairly, if you apply justice with an open mind," Gray said.
His family was overwhelmed and so happy to have him home.
"He's now going to be able to have those relationships that he's been putting off for the past 28 years of his life. And in April, I think he's going to be able to walk his daughter down the aisle," Potts said.
Johnson shared these last few words before riding off to start his life over, "Glad to be free."
The Republican-led state attorney general's office fought to keep Johnson locked up. A spokeswoman for the office, Madeline Sieren, said in an email that the office will take no further action in the case. She again defended the office's push to keep Johnson behind bars.
“As he stated when he was sworn in, Attorney General (Andrew) Bailey is committed to enforcing the laws as written,” Sieren wrote. “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.”
Johnson's attorneys blasted the state attorney general's office after the hearing, saying it “never stopped claiming Lamar was guilty and was comfortable to have him languish and die in prison.”
“Yet, when this State’s highest law enforcement office could hide from a courtroom no more, it presented nothing to challenge the overwhelming body of evidence that the circuit attorney and Lamar Johnson had amassed,” they said in a statement.
St. Louis' Prosecuting Attorney Kim Gardner has been pushing for Johnson's freedom. Gardner's office released a statement following the announcement:
"Today the courts righted a wrong – vacating the sentence of Mr. Lamar Johnson following his wrongful conviction in 1995. Most importantly, we celebrate with Mr. Johnson and his family as he walks out of the courtroom as a free man.
This case was about the ability of an elected prosecutor to address a manifest injustice. This case says that in the state of Missouri, a person’s right to justice and liberty is valued more than the finality of an unjust conviction. My office fought long and hard, we took this case all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court. We are pleased that Mr. Johnson will have the opportunity to be the man and member of our community that he desires.
I want to thank our partners at the Midwest Innocence Project and the attorneys at Bryan Cave for their tireless work in the pursuit of correcting the wrongful conviction of Mr. Johnson. It is always in the best interest of our City, State and Nation to ensure that convictions levied on individuals are correct according to the available evidence and constitutional law. My office takes claims of manifest injustice seriously, and we will continue our work every day on behalf of all the people of the City of St. Louis."
Johnson's case has even created a Missouri law that makes it easier for prosecutors to get new hearings in cases.
The new law freed another longtime inmate in 2021.
Kevin Strickland of Kansas City, Missouri, was freed from prison at age 62 after spending more than 40 years behind bars for a triple murder. He maintained that he wasn't at the crime scene, and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced said her review convinced her that Strickland was telling the truth.
After the Missouri Supreme Court in June 2021 declined to hear Strickland's petition for release, Peters Baker used the new state law to seek a hearing. In that hearing, a judge ordered Strickland freed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.