ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

Lamar Johnson calls on Missouri lawmakers to start compensation program for exonerees

Lamar Johnson, who St. Louis' circuit attorney says was wrongly convicted in a 1994 murder, speaks at Jefferson City Correctional Center in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. - Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/TNS

2023/02/20

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Six days after a judge declared him a free man, Lamar Johnson told members of a Senate panel Monday that the state must compensate people who have been freed from prison for crimes they didn’t commit.

Johnson, 49, who served nearly three decades in the Missouri prison system for murder, said he and others who have been freed not only need a stream of income, but they need housing, a vehicle and a way to cover educational costs lost while they were locked up.

“It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to be free. Nothing can ever give me back what I lost,” Johnson said. “But this bill would provide the security I need to get on my feet.”

Johnson said he walked away from his prison term Tuesday with little more than clothes he received from friends.

“I have no car, no furniture and no place to call home,” he said.

At issue for members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are laws proposed by Democratic Sens. Brian Williams of University City and Steve Roberts of St. Louis that could give those who like Johnson are wrongfully imprisoned up to $65,000 for each year they spent in a cellblock.

In Johnson’s case, that would amount to more than $1.8 million.

The hearing marked the second year that lawmakers considered similar changes. Legislation debated last year failed to advance to the governor’s desk.

Johnson was joined by other exonerees at the hearing, including Ricky Kidd, a former cellmate who was exonerated in 2019.

“During that 23 years of being wrongfully convicted, I lost a lot,” Kidd said.

Under current state law, unless DNA evidence absolves an innocent person, Missouri doesn’t compensate prisoners released from custody for a crime they didn’t commit.

That has left Johnson reliant on fundraising efforts. Johnson’s GoFundMe account has generated more than $520,000 since he was released last Tuesday.

Johnson is the latest beneficiary of a new law that allows a prosecutor to file a motion for a judge to vacate or set aside a guilty verdict based on new information or evidence that clears the convicted person of wrongdoing.

Johnson was convicted of the 1994 murder of Markus Boyd. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office determined Johnson had not committed the crime. St. Louis Circuit Court Judge David C. Mason announced he agreed last week, saying there was “actual innocence” and constitutional errors in Johnson’s case.

Specifically, the legislation would grant damages of $179 per day for each day of imprisonment, topping out at a maximum of $65,000 per fiscal year,

Additionally, the damages awarded shall not be less than $25,000 for each additional year served on parole.

Although the proposals call for the money to be paid out on a yearly basis, a judge could order the award to be paid in one lump sum.

In addition to the damages, the claimant also could receive attorney’s fees and court costs not to exceed a total of $25,000. The person also could receive housing assistance, counseling and tuition assistance.

Josh Kezer, a southeast Missouri man whose wrongful murder conviction was overturned in 2009, said the law doesn’t go far enough. He believes exonerees who chose to stay in Missouri should not have to pay taxes.

“We’ve already paid our debt to society,” said Kezer, who has been advocating for inmates in Missouri prisons whom he believes are innocent.

Kezer added that Johnson’s ability to raise more than $520,000 should not be a barrier to his receiving compensation from the state.

“That’s got nothing to do with why this law is needed,” Kezer told the Post-Dispatch.

The Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys also backs the legislation.

No one testified in opposition to the legislation.

Along with efforts in the Senate to compensate wrongly imprisoned people, Democrats in the House are pushing similar legislation.

The legislation is Senate Bill 253 and Senate Bill 146.

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