A man has been released from a Pennsylvania prison for the first time in more than 30 years, following a judge’s decision to vacate his 1990 murder conviction.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 61-year-old Ronald Johnson was arrested Monday night after a Philadelphia judge’s decision and prosecutors’ move to dismiss the charges, according to nonprofit public interest law firm Phillips Black. reported that he was released from the Phoenix State Correctional Facility. imprisoned people.
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The law firm said on its website that Johnson and “three generations of his family” have “fought tirelessly to prove his innocence” for more than 30 years. Stephen Lazar, a legal trainee on the team, said Mr Johnson’s “first plan as a free man” after 34 years was to visit the burial site of his mother, who “always believed” in his innocence. said, said.
The Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery is directly visible on the Philadelphia skyline. (Reuters/David M. Parrott)
Johnson was convicted of murdering Joseph Goldsby, who was shot to death in his car in the Tioga neighborhood of North Philadelphia in March 1990, but police said he was a drug dealer. .
Defense attorneys said Johnson was convicted based on testimony provided by two men whose stories changed “significantly” during police interrogations, and that the conviction was based on fingerprints, DNA and other forensic evidence. The claim was not supported by evidence.
Johnson’s attorney said witnesses initially said his client was not at the scene and later identified another person as a potential suspect, but police and prosecutors at the time withheld that evidence. .
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The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office’s Conviction Integrity Unit said in November that the evidence “undermines confidence in the outcome of Mr. Johnson’s trial.”
