Toforest Johnson, an Alabama death row inmate, will no longer face execution after the state’s Republican governor commuted his sentence amid increasing doubts about his conviction.
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governor → face → conviction
Kay Ivey, the Alabama governor, commuted Johnson’s sentence to life in prison without parole in the 1995 murder of William Hardy, a Jefferson county deputy sheriff.
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Ivey → commute → Hardy
Johnson has long maintained he is innocent, and several former public officials, as well the local district attorney, have argued he should receive a new trial.
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he → maintain → trial
“When presented with Mr Johnson’s case, I had concerns there was not enough direct evidence to carry out the most serious punishment – death,” Ivey said in a statement.
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Ivey → present → statement
“My decision is not a determination of innocence, but a recognition that the circumstances of this case justify commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment, without possibility of parole.
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circumstances → justify → parole
Ivey has overseen 27 executions during her time as governor, and commuted the death sentence of three death row inmates.
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Ivey → oversee → inmates
Her decision on Tuesday comes shortly after another Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, cancelled a planned execution for the first time earlier this month.
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governor → come → time
Ty Alper, one of Johnson’s attorneys, said they are grateful to Ivey for “diligently reviewing Toforest’s case and taking action to spare an innocent man from execution”.
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they → say → execution
Alper said the fight to overturn the conviction will continue.
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fight → say → conviction
The governor only has the power to commute a death sentence in such cases.
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governor → have → cases
Now it is up to the courts to overturn his conviction and grant him a new trial.
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it → overturn → trial
We will keep fighting until he is home with his family,” Alper said.
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Alper → keep → family
Johnson was sentenced to death in 1998.
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Johnson → sentence → 1998
Hardy was shot twice in the head while working off-duty security at a hotel in 1995.
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Hardy → shoot → 1995
Johnson has maintained he was on the other side of town at the time of the shooting.
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he → maintain → shooting
No physical evidence tied him to the killing, and more than 10 witnesses placed him on the other side of town during the killing.
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witnesses → tie → killing
Danny Carr, the Jefferson county district attorney, has called for the conviction to be overturned, as has the original prosecutor.
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prosecutor → call → ?
Carr has said that “the foundation of this conviction has disintegrated” and that there are multiple reasons to doubt the key prosecution witness.
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foundation → say → witness
The witness at Johnson’s 1998 trial testified that, while eavesdropping on a phone call, she heard a man she believed was Johnson admitting to the crime.
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she → testify → crime
She was paid $5,000 in 2001 for her testimony, and Johnson’s lawyers argue that the state withheld evidence of monetary motivation for the testimony.
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state → pay → testimony
There has been a years-long legal effort to win a new trial in the case that has garnered national attention, including support from Kim Kardashian, and was the subject of a podcast.
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that → win → podcast
Carr wrote in a 2024 court filing that the “evidence in this case has unraveled over 20 years”.
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evidence → write → years
Former judges and prosecutors have joined the effort seeking a new trial for Johnson.
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judges → join → Johnson
Bill Baxley, a former Alabama attorney general, former state chief justices Sonny Hornsby and Drayton Nabers, and several former judges and prosecutors have submitted briefs or written editorials supporting a new trial.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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Press → submit → reporting
The Aporia
