BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore man is free after spending 13 years in prison for a murder that prosecutors now say he didn’t commit.
The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday that 33-year-old Lamar Johnson was granted a new trial and released.
The judge’s decision followed the emergence of new witnesses who say Johnson was not the gunman in a 2004 murder.
Johnson’s conviction was based on a nickname. Witnesses told police after the death of Carlos Sawyer said the shooter went by a particular nickname, which prosecutors declined to reveal.
Johnson’s attorneys said he was misidentified. During his trial, witnesses said he simply resembled the shooter.
Johnson pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence. The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, a nonprofit at The George Washington University, worked on Johnson’s case for seven years.
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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com
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