The prosecutor in Lamar Johnson鈥檚 1995 murder trial told a St. Louis courtroom on Wednesday that he would have never brought the case in the first place without the testimony of an eyewitness who has since recanted.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any evidence,鈥� said then-assistant St. Louis Circuit Attorney Dwight Warren.
Wednesday was the third day of a hearing on Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner鈥檚 motion to set aside Johnson鈥檚 conviction, which she .
The decision lies in the hands of 22nd Circuit Court Judge David Mason.
, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence who testified on Monday that he and a now-deceased man named Philip Campbell 鈥� not Johnson 鈥� shot and killed Marcus Boyd on Oct. 30, 1994.
Campbell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 1995 and received a sentence of seven years, which he served. Johnson pled not guilty to the same crime and was sentenced to life without parole.
Mason also heard from Greg Elking, who was sitting on Marcus Boyd鈥檚 front porch in South St. Louis when two masked men shot and killed Boyd.
Elking was Warren鈥檚 key witness in the 1995 case, but he testified this week that police detectives 鈥減ressured鈥� and 鈥渂ullied鈥� him into identifying Johnson from a lineup.
At the end of the second day, after listening to Elking鈥檚 testimony, Mason gave Johnson and his supporters a ray of hope.
鈥淚鈥檝e already reached the fact conclusion that the testimony of Elking was overly suggestive,鈥� Mason said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost a textbook case of suggestive identification.鈥�
While on the stand, Warren defended his actions and answered Mason鈥檚 numerous questions about how he prosecuted the case 鈥� including why he didn鈥檛 disclose certain information to Johnson鈥檚 public defender.
Among the withheld information was more than $4,000 in witness protection payments that Elking received after he picked Johnson out of a line up.
Warren also didn鈥檛 disclose the fact that he allowed Boyd鈥檚 family to come in and talk to Elking while at his office.
鈥淚鈥檓 sitting here wondering, would it have been your practice to expose your key witness to people who are emotionally involved with the victim鈥� and not make the defense counsel aware of that particular interaction?鈥� Mason asked Warren.
鈥淚t may have been,鈥� Warren replied, adding that he didn鈥檛 see a court rule against it.
At the time, Elking also had outstanding warrants for some parking tickets. Warren told the city counselor, who handled municipal violations, that he didn鈥檛 want Elking to get picked up and put in jail alongside Johnson, Warren testified.
The city counselor cleared the tickets, but Warren said he didn鈥檛 directly ask him to do that and it wasn鈥檛 something he promised Elking.
Johnson鈥檚 then-public defender, David Bruns, also testified Wednesday and confirmed he never received any information about the payments Elking received or the clearing of his traffic tickets.
If he had the information, Bruns said he would have used it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 motive,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e looking for what seems to be an impartial witness.鈥�
Warren said he told Bruns that Elking was being relocated, and Bruns should have assumed that it came with a cost.
But Bruns said that is 鈥渁 different thing that someone has been relocated from where they live to the fact that their bills are being paid.鈥�
Warren鈥檚 case against Johnson became stronger after a jailhouse snitch, William Mock, said he overheard Johnson talking about killing Boyd while they were in jail together.
Warren wrote a letter to the parole board explaining that Mock was a witness in a murder case and giving him parole would help Warren protect Mock against potential attacks. But Warren held firm that he didn鈥檛 offer Mock any deal to testify against Johnson.
Under a 2021 state law, if a prosecutor files a motion to vacate or set aside a judgment, the attorney general鈥檚 office could appear, question witnesses and make arguments at the hearing.
Attorneys representing the attorney general鈥檚 office in this case are arguing that Johnson is guilty.
During cross examination of Warren, Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep boasted Warren鈥檚 credentials as a prosecutor who served more than 40 years and had assessed the credibility of thousands of witnesses before talking to Elking.
Estep asked Warren if he had felt confident of Elking鈥檚 identification of Johnson at that time.
Before Warren could answer, Mason said, 鈥渉old on.鈥�
鈥淲hen [Elking] made his identification, he told you and the officers it was based upon him looking at the eyes because that was all he could see, isn鈥檛 that correct?鈥� Mason asked Warren.
鈥淚 believe so,鈥� Warren said.
It was at 9 p.m. and dark, Mason said.
鈥淎nd did he or did he not tell you that all of this happened鈥ithin seconds?鈥� the judge asked Warren.
Warren said yes.
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what you decided was sufficiently reliable to seek a murder conviction?鈥� Mason said.
Warren replied, 鈥淭o take it to a jury, yes sir.鈥�
Tomorrow, the circuit attorney鈥檚 team said they will call Johnson and the witness who was with Johnson that night. The attorney general鈥檚 team said they plan on calling the police detective and Boyd鈥檚 girlfriend, who was upstairs at the apartment when he was killed.
This story was originally published by the , part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence.
