Wrongful Conviction and Community Activism: How Non-Litigation Advocacy in Individual Cases Can Spotlight Egregious Systemic Injustice [In-Person]

Sponsored by Greater Birmingham Ministries.

Toforest Johnson is a Black man who has spent more than 25 years on death row in Alabama and is at risk of being executed for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy despite the fact that even the prosecutor who put him on death row believes he should have a new trial. The Birmingham community has rallied in support of Mr. Johnson, whose case illustrates the tragically daunting challenge of undoing a “settled” murder case – even when almost everyone involved has serious doubts about the integrity of the conviction.

We intend the workshop to focus on two related topics: (1) the failure of the legal system to provide remedies in the postconviction context, even when the jurisdiction’s own law enforcement leaders no longer stand by a conviction; and (2) the role that community organizing efforts can play in complementing litigation efforts to raise awareness about injustice in the criminal legal system and capital cases in particular.

The current Jefferson County District Attorney recently publicly called for a new trial, based in part on the fact that prosecutors presented five different and mutually exclusive theories at various proceedings for the murder of Deputy Hardy. His most recent filing (from May 20 of this year) also identified his interviews with the lead trial prosecutor, interviews with alibi witnesses, and recently discovered information that the state’s primary witness received payment for her testimony (which was not known at trial and was withheld from Mr. Johnson’s attorneys for over 17 years) as reasons for his decision to request a new trial. Mr. Johnson has always maintained his innocence. (https://www.toforestjohnson.com/).

DATE/TIME:
Thursday October 31, 2024 3:30pm - 4:30pm CDT

LOCATION:
Skipworth 2