Ricky Kidd. Carrody Buchhorn. Keith Carnes. Floyd Bledsoe. Kevin Strickland. Lamonte McIntyre. Olin “Pete” Coones Jr. Missouri or Kansas threw all of them behind bars — many of them for a long, long time — for crimes they swore they didn’t commit.
And all have been freed in the past few years alone after a variety of injustices came to light — perjury, official misconduct, bad forensic science — making it clear that the states got it wrong the first time.
Add to that shameful list Lamar Johnson, who will finally walk free after St. Louis-area Circuit Judge David C. Mason examined the evidence against his guilt Tuesday, and found it “clear and convincing.” The unjust conviction will be vacated after Johnson spent more than half his life locked up.
